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GLADSTONE,  THE  GRAND  OLD  MAN 


REV.  FRANK  W.  GUNSAULUS 


WILLIAM  EWART  GLADSTONE 


A  BIOGRAPHICAL  STUDY. 


BY 

FRANK  WAKELEY    GUNSAULUS,   D.  D., 

PRESIDENT  OF  THE  ABMOUE  INSTITUTE  OF  TECHNOLOGY. 

Author  of  "Phidias,"  "Monk  and  Knight,"  "The  Transfiguration  of  Christ,"  "Songs  of 

Night  and  Day,"  Etc. 


"You  can  not  fight  against  the  future.      Time  is  on  our  side." 

— Gladstone. 


Copyright 

By 

K.  T.  BOLAND. 
1898. 


DEDICATED 

TO    MY    SON, 


AND 

gfte  Jltw^mts  jo*  J^vmxmv  Iwsttttttje  xift 


"It  is  better  to  ivrite  one  word  upon  the  ror.k,  than  a 
thousand  on  the  ivater  or  the  sand:  better  to  remove  a  single 
stray  stone  out  of  the  path  that  mounts  the  hills  of  true  cul- 
ture, than  to  hew  out  miles  of  devious  tracks,  which  mislead 
and  bewilder  m  when  we  travel  them,  and  make  us  more  than 
content  if  we  are  fortunate  enough  to  find,  when  we  emerge 
out  of  their  windings,  that  we  have  simply  returned  to  the 
point  in  our  age,  from  which,  in  sanguine  youth,  we  set 
out.'1'' —  Gladstone. 


"  The  greatest  triumph  of  our  time,  a  triumph  in  a  region 
loftier  than  that  of  electricity  and  steam,  will  be  the  enthrone- 
ment of  this  idea  of  Public  Right,  as  the  governing  idea 
of  European  policy ;  as  the  common  and  precious  inheritance 
of  all  lands,  but  superior  to  the  passing  opinion  of  any. 
The  foremost  among  the  nations  will  be  that  one,  which  by 
its  conduct  shall  gradually  engender  in  the  minds  of  the 
others  a  fixed  belief  that  it  is  just.  In  the  competition  for 
this  prize,  the  bounty  of  Providence  has  given  us  a  place  of 
vantage;  and  nothing  save  our  own  fault  or  folly  can  wrest  it 
from  our  grasp" — Gladstone. 


PREFACE. 


Several  years  ago  I  began  thinking  that  no  career  in  modern  politi- 
cal life  abroad  contained  so  many  inspiring  and  excellent  lessons  for  the 
youth  and  hope  of  America  as  that  of  William  Ewart  Gladstone.  A 
series  of  lectures  at  the  Armour  Institute  of  Technology  proved  that  a 
large  number  of  people  of  every  age  and  place  in  life  were  glad  to  hear 
the  story  of  his  life  conceived  and  treated  from  an  American  point  of 
view.  These  lectures  have  now  been  rewritten  and  many  additions 
have  been  made  to  them  from  the  large  mass  of  material  obtained  dur- 
ing a  visit  to  England  which  gave  me  an  extraordinary  opportunity  for 
studying  the  great  statesman  and  scholar.  It  has  been  a  delightful  task 
and  I  can  hope  for  no  richer  reward  for  my  labor  and  care  than  this, 
that  Americans  everywhere  may  find  in  reading  this  volume  any  smallest 
portion  of  such  pleasure  and  interest  as  I  have  enjoyed  in  writing  it. 

While  my  point  of  view  has  been  different,  I  have  not  hesitated  to 
consult  the  previously  composed  accounts  of  this  wonderful  life.  To 
the  biographies  of  Mr.  George  W.  E.  Russell,  Mr.  G.  Barnet  Smith 
and  Mr.  Justin  McCarthy,  I  have  been  especially  grateful  for  many 
things  whose  value  I  cordially  acknowledge.  Besides  these  and 
an  ever-present  copy  of  Hansard,  I  have  to  mention  in  the  same  spirit 
of  thankfulness,  Mr.  McCarthy's  "History  of  Our  Own  Times,"  Mr. 
Molesworth's  "History  of  England,"  and  the  "Nineteenth  Century," 
as  well  as  the  "Edinburgh,"  "Contemporary"  and  "Fortnightly  Re- 
view." I  have  expressed  my  obligations  to  other  notable  publications  in 
the  main  body  of  the  work. 

The  great  soul  has  passed  on;  his  genius,  learning,  eloquence, 
scholarship,  humanity  and  piety  are  among  the  most  splendid  and  indu- 
bitable treasures  of  the  race. 

F.  W.  G. 


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CONTENTS. 


Chapter  Page 

I.  Parentage  and  Youth 17 

II.  School  Days  at  Eton 30 

III.  Christchurch  College,  Oxford 39 

IV.  The  Oxford  Student 49 

V.  Coming  to  His  Opportunity 60 

VI.  Lord  of  the  Treasury  and  Author 69 

VII.  A  Great  Problem  in  Sight 84 

VIII.  Gladstone  and  Sir  Robert  Peel 95 

IX.  The  Corn  Law  Agitation 102 

X.  The  Valorous  Churchman m 

XI.  Oxford's  Representative 120 

XII.  The  Neapolitan  Outrages. 131 

XIII.  Palmerston  Overthrown 134 

XIV.  After  the  Triumph 141 

XV.  The  Crimean  War 145 

XVI.  A  New  Government 152 

XVII.  The  Ionian  Islands 158 

XVIII.  Gladstone  and  Macaulay 161 

XIX.  Gladstone's  Budget  of  1860. .' 168 

XX.  The  Budget  of  1861 177 

XXI.  The  American  Civil  War 185 

XXII.  The  Scholar  and  Orator 195 

XXIII.  Contesting  for  Oxford 203 

XXIV.  Leader  of  the  House  of  Commons 213 

XXV.  Gladstone  and  Disraeli 220 

XXVI.  The  Derby-Disraeli  Government 233 


CONTENTS. 

Chapter  P&ge 

XXVII.  Disestablishment 241 

XXVIII.  Triumphant  Liberalism 250 

XXIX.  Complications  and  Perils 262 

XXX.  The  "Alabama  Claims" 265 

XXXI.  Seeking  Rest  and  Finding  None 276 

XXXII.  Gladstone  and  "The  Mystery  Man" 281 

XXXIII.  The  Knight  Errant 287 

XXXIV.  The  Member  from  Midlothian 296 

XXXV.  The  Irish  Problem  Again 305 

XXXVI.  Gladstone  and  Bright, 311 

XXXVII.  Egypt  and  Defeat 317 

XXXVIII.  Called  Again  to  Power 325 

XXXIX.  Tried  and  Faithful 333 

XL.  The  Aged  Warrior 335 

XLI.  The  Grand  Old  Man  Again  in  Power 348 

XLII.  Gladstone  the  Man 355 

XLIII.  At  Eventide 368 

XLIV.  Conclusion 377 


ILLUSTRATIONS. 


Gladstone— The  "Grand  Old  Man." 

Rev.  Frank  W.  Gunsaulus. 

Eton  College. 

Christchurch  College,  Oxford. 

Dining  Hall,  Christchurch  College,  Oxford. 

Court  of  Oriel  College,  Oxford. 

Broad  Walk  in  Gardens  Christchurch  College,  Oxford. 

Daniel  O'Connell. 

The  Right  Honorable  William  Ewart  Gladstone,  M.  P. 

Hawarden  Castle,  the  Home  of  Gladstone. 

Robert  Peel. 

Benjamin  Disraeli. 

E.  G.  Stanley. 

Aberdeen. 

Richard  Cobden. 

The  Right  Honorable  Lord  Macaulay. 

Palmerston. 

Queen  Victoria. 

William  E.  Gladstone,  English  Statesman. 

Windsor  Castle. 

Lord  John  Russell. 

Houses  of  Parliament. 

Throne  Room,  Windsor. 

Earl  Derby. 

Buckingham  Palace. 

Right  Honorable  The  Marquis  of  Salisbury,  K.  G. 


ILLUSTRATIONS. 

St.  James  Palace. 

Cardinal  Newman. 

Gladstone  and  Son  Herbert. 

Lord  Beaconsfield. 

Portrait  of  Gladstone — Painted  by  Hamilton. 

John  Bright. 

Old  Castle,  Hawarden. 

Gladstone  Delivering  Famous  Speech. 

Gladstone  and  His  Friends. 

Gladstone  and  His  Family. 

Gladstone  and  Li  Hung  Chang. 

Catherine  Gladstone. 

Gladstone  and  Grandchild. 

Prince  of  Wales'  Visit. 


WILLIAM  EWART  GLADSTONE-. 


A  BIOGRAPHICAL  STUDY. 


CHAPTER  I. 
PARENTAGE  AND  YOUTH. 

Ours  has  been  called  the  century  of  achievements.  But  the  nine- 
teenth century  has  produced  nothing  so  great  as  its  men  and  women. 
Personalities  as  unforgetable  as  time  have  appeared  in  the  domain  of 
art,  philanthropy,  religion,  science,  reform,  literature,  invention  and 
commerce.  It  will  not,  however,  be  called  a  literary,  a  religious,  or  an 
artistic  century,  and  even  above  its  product  of  reformers,  philanthro- 
pists and  inventors,  on  the  level  of  its  contribution  of  scientists  and 
princes  of  commerce,  it  will  be  memorable  as  having  given  to  history 
four  shining  examples  of  constructive  statesmanship.  Into  these  men 
have  entered  its  spirit  and  its  qualities.  They  have  incarnated  especially 
its  scientific  method,  its  genius  for  resource,  its  commercial  instinct,  its 
faith  in  human  brotherhood.  Each  of  these  men, — Cavour,  Lincoln, 
Bismarck  and  Gladstone, — has  been  influenced  after  his  own  manner, 
either  by  art,  religion,  literature,  or  what  we  call  business;  and  he,  in 
turn,  has  influenced  the  realm  which  has  touched  his  life  most  closely. 
But  the  more  distinctively  characteristic  forces  of  the  age  which  have 
been  already  enumerated  have  been  the  dominant  energies  in  the  soul 
and  in  the  achievement  of  these  men  as  statesmen.  Each  of  them 
comes  up  out  of  a  soil  so  vitalizing,  and  each  has  such  intimate  rela- 
tionship with  the  time  and  the  place  in  which  his  career  roots  itself,  that 
it  is  impossible  to  study  the  Italy  of  the  nineteenth  century  successfully 
without  finding  its  most  complete  and  accurate  presentation  in  the 
personality  of  Cavour,  as  Germany  of  the  same  period  offers  Bismarck, 
America  Lincoln,  and  England  Gladstone. 

17 


18  GLADSTONE:  A  BIOGRAPHICAL  STUDY. 

The  task  of  duly  portraying  his  personality  and  making  a  worthy 
review  of  his  career,  must  be  presented  in  the  somewhat  trying  light 
\vhich  he  himself  has  flung  upon  such  fascinating  employment.  Writing 
in  1876  he  said:  "Biographies,  like  painted  portraits,  range  over  an 
immense  scale  of  value;  the  highest  stand  at  a  very  elevated  point  in- 
deed; and  the  lowest,  in  which  this  age  has  been  beyond  all  others  fer- 
tile, descend  far  below  zero.  Human  nature  is  in  itself  a  thing  so  won- 
derful, so  greatly  paramount  among  all  the  objects  offered  to  our  knowl- 
edge, that  there  are  few  pieces  or  specimens  of  it  which  do  not  deserve 
and  reward  observation.  But  then  they  must  be  true,  and  must  breathe 
the  breath  of  life;  they  must  give  us,  not  the  mere  clothes,  or  grave- 
clothes,  of  the  man,  but  the  man  himself  For  this  reason  it  is  that  auto- 
biographies (unless  when  a  distinguished  man  is  unfortunately  tempted, 
as  appears  to  have  been  the  case  with  Lord  Brougham,  to  write  his  own 
life  from  old  newspapers)  are  commonly  of  real  interest ;  for  every  man 
does  his  best  to  make  his  own  portrait  a  likeness." 

Now,  the  fact  is  that  Mr.  Gladstone  has  written  his  autobiography 
in  the  changed  condition  of  human  life  in  England,  in  a  multitude  of 
excellent  essays  and  in  some  of  the  most  brilliant  and  statesmanlike 
orations  in  the  English  language,  all  of  which  give  to  the  duty  of 
the  biographer  a  peculiar  tendency.  The  living  figure  abides.  Any 
description  of  our  time  finds  him  a  present  force,  and  his  eloquence 
flows  forth,  resistless  and  splendid  as  in  other  clays.  He  was  statesman, 
orator,  and  man  of  letters,  expositor  of  Homer,  polemic  and  theologian, 
connoisseur  of  art,  critic  of  poets  and  philosophers,  fast  and  genial 
friend,  noble  husband,  wise  and  tender  father,  and,  above  all,  "the  grand 
old  man"  of  Anglo-Saxon  civilization.  But  a  man's  vitality  for  any 
length  of  time  depends  upon  his  spiritual  attitude  and  the  vision  in 
which  he  has  seen  things.  Gladstone  was  and  is  all  these  men  in  one,  be- 
cause of  the  perennial  quality  of  his  ideals. 

He  is  the  more  interesting  to  Americans  because  he  comes  from  the 
central  heart,  the  genetic  current  of  modern  political  life.  The  origins  of 
his  career  lie  and  move  with  the  great  mass  of  people  known  in  England 
as  the  "middle  class."  Much  has  been  said  about  this  portion  of  the  body 
politic  in  explanation  of  the  fact  that  Gladstone  began  his  career  as  a 


PARENTAGE  AND   YOUTH.  19 

Tory  and  ended  it  as  a  Liberal.  If  it  is  meant  by  this  that  the  middle 
class,  having  no  titles  to  protect  or  venerable  symbols  to  maintain,  finds 
itself  allied  with  a  sort  of  Toryism  easily  transformed  into  Liberalism,  an 
entirely  wrong  impression  is  conveyed,  for  this  is  not  the  truth  about  the 
Toryism  of  such  people  as  Sir  John  Gladstone.  When  you  get  a  Tory 
who  finds  himself  born,  where,  with  one  hand  he  touches  the  aristocracy 
with  his  genius,  and  with  the  other  hand,  he  touches  the  plebeian 
elements  of  society  with  his  common  clay,  his  Toryism  is  almost  sure 
to  be  as  fantastic  and  bumptious  as  it  is  uncertain  of  its  respectability. 
The  very  circumstances  of  Mr.  Gladstone's  birth,  uniting  him  to  an 
element  which  has  had  so  much  to  do  with  the  progress  of  England 
in  commerce,  literature,  art,  and  morals,  would  have  furnished  a  less 
virile  and  clear-headed  man  with  a  reason  for  courting,  throughout  his 
whole  life,  aristocracies  and  royal  families.  It  is  usually  the  man  who 
having  been  born  in  circumstances  where  the  common  things  of  life 
touch  him  most  closely,  lifted  by  genius  into  the  neighborhood  of  the 
uncommon  things,  finds  himself  forgetful  of  any  duties  which  he  owes 
to  those  who  still  remain  in  the  ordinary  walks  of  life.  True,  the  greatest 
defenders  of  individual  and  national  freedom,  the  souls  least  vanquished 
by  pretentious  nobility  and  bejeweled  royalty,  as  well  as  the  wise 
defenders  of  England's  constitution  against  a  noisy  lawlessness  which 
calls  itself  by  the  sacred  name  of  democracy,  have  sprung  from  this 
class.  But,  given  such  wealth  and  culture  and  associations  as  came  to 
Gladstone,  it  must  be  regarded  as  the  triumph  of  a  truth-seeking  nature 
over  circumstances  and  prejudices,  rather  than  force  of  prejudice  and 
sovereignty  of  circumstances  which  lifted  him  into  such  a  position  in 
the  statesmanship  of  our  time  as  makes  him  worthy  of  association  with 
the  great  masters  of  statecraft  in  all  time. 

Sir  John  Gladstone  was  simply  an  industrious,  level-headed,  clear- 
eyed  man  of  affairs.  He  set  his  very  life-current  in  the  blood  of  his  son 
William.  Whenever  in  his  future  life  William  Ewart  Gladstone  stood  in 
the  House  of  Commons  and  made  a  financial  Budget  more  interesting 
than  the  novel  of  his  great  rival,  Disraeli,  there  was  allied  in  him,  with 
the  scholar  and  the  orator,  the  old  dealer  in  grain  at  Leith,  near  Edin- 
burgh, who  had  conveyed  from  generation  to  generation  his  superlative 


20  GLADSTONE:   A   BIOGRAPHICAL   STUDY. 

energy,  as  well  as  his  clear  and  comprehensive  philosophy  as  to  how 
property  is  to  be  obtained  and  how  property  is  to  be  kept  after  it  is 
obtained.  One  of  Sir  John  Gladstone's  friends  once  heard  Gladstone 
the  younger  talk  for  a  half  hour  on  Homer,  and  then  drop  into  a  dis- 
course upon  the  tax  on  annuities.  "There,"  said  he,  "I  hear  the  Lan- 
cashire grain  merchant,  even  if  he  has  learned  Greek  poetry." 

Sir  John  furnished  his  son  with  a  passion  for  work  and  a  grave  con- 
viction that  life  has  few  topics  upon  which  the  liveliest  and  most  truly 
equipped  intellect  may  not  wisely  spend  all  its  powers.  A  purpose, 
tenacious  as  his  mind  was  practical  and  intense,  served  to  gather  to  itself 
all  that  this  home  furnished  of  delightful  intercourse,  high  ideals  and 
quick  intelligence  and  consolidate  it  in  this  son  for  future  service  to 
the  theories  dear  to  the  father.  Mercantile  pursuits  did  not  overcloud 
the  sky  of  the  young  book-lover;  but  the  youth  dreamed  in  the  atmos- 
phere of  trade.  That  the  son  was  manfully  proud  of  so  worthy,  if  com- 
mercial, an  origin,  is  evidenced  by  a  speech  delivered  in  Liverpool,  in 
1872,  in  which  he  said:  "I  know  not  why  commerce  in  England  should 
not  have  its  old  families,  rejoicing  to  be  connected  with  commerce  from 
generation  to  generation.  It  has  been  so  in  other  countries;  I  trust  it 
will  be  so  in  this  country.  I  think  it  is  a  subject  of  sorrow,  almost  of 
scandal,  when  those  families  who  have  either  acquired  or  recovered  sta- 
tion and  wealth  through  commerce,  turn  their  backs  upon  it,  and  seem 
to  be  ashamed  of  it.  It  certainly  is  not  so  with  my  brothers  or  with  me." 

It  is  scarcely  necessary  for  us  to  dwell  upon  the  fact  that  the  Glad- 
jBtone  family  is  of  great  antiquity,  and  that  they  were  once  called  Gled- 
stanes, — a  lowland  Scotch  word  "gled,"  which  signifies  hawk,  and 
another  word,  "stane,"  meaning  rock,  uniting  and  forming  a  name  long 
borne  by  a  family,  which,  thanks  to  the  immense  services  of  its  late 
representative,  need  care  little  whether  or  not  Herbert  de  Gledstane, 
who  seems  to  have  been  one  of  the  Lairds  who  made  oath  of  his  loyalty 
to  Edward  the  First,  was  really  the  ancestor  of  the  orator  and  statesman 
whom  we  are  now  studying.  Certain  it  seems  that  early  in  the  sixteenth 
century  a  branch  of  the  family  settled  in  Clydesdale,  and  from  it  the 
subject  of  this  biographical  study  sprang. 

Gladstone's  mother  has  scarcely  figured  in  the  accounts  of  his  life, 


PARENTAGE  AND  YOUTH.  21 

and,  indeed,  such  a  man  as  Sir  John  Gladstone  was  not  likely  to  permit 
her  to  occupy  any  too  dominant  place  in  his  own  biography  or  in  the 
customary  chronicle  of  his  son's  career.  The  truth  is,  however,  that 
Annie  Robertson,  who  was  Sir  John  Gladstone's  second  wife,  imparted 
,to  her  son  William  the  very  rare  and  delicate  quality  which  expressed 
itself  throughout  his  career  in  his  love  of  art,  his  appreciation  of  the 
finest  forms  in  which  the  literary  spirit  enshrines  itself,  and  his  musical 
sense,  which  is  apparent  in  him  not  only  as  the  young  tenor  singer  in 
the  Liverpool  home,  but  also  in  that  sonorous  rhythm  which  abounds 
throughout  his  speeches.  Gladstone's  mother  came  from  the  ancient 
Donachie  clan,  and,  besides  the  contributions  mentioned  above,  there 
is  little  doubt  that  she  contributed  also  to  her  boy  a  certain  speculative 
tendency  of  mind  which  has  helped  him,  oftentimes,  to  poise  in  the 
atmosphere  above  a  subject  so  long  as  to  enable  him  to  know  where 
truth  and  conscience  should  bid  him  to  light. 

In  the  home  of  these  two, — John  Gladstone  and  Annie  Robertson- 
William  Ewart  Gladstone,  the  fourth  son,  was  born  December  29th, 
1809. 

Mr.  Gladstone  has  been  described  as  a  man  who  was  quite  unable 
to  keep  his  seat  in  the  House  of  Commons  or  elsewhere  when  any  sub- 
ject was  up  for  debate,  upon  which  he  knew  more  than  anyone  else 
speaking  on  the  topic.  Punch  has  contained  many  a  lively  picture  of 
"the  grand  old  man"  vainly  seeking  to  repress  what  one  of  the  liveliest 
of  our  essayists  calls  his  "passion  for  argumentation."  The  home  of 
Gladstone's  childhood  was  a  school  of  controversy,  in  which  he  was 
trained  as  if  he  were  to  spend  his  whole  life,  and  its  destinies  were  to 
be  decided,  in  a  hall  of  debate.  The  House  of  Commons  does  not 
ordinarily  furnish  a  man  opportunity  for  constant  contention.  Human 
nature  is  commonly  granted  too  brief  a  career,  and  the  human  body  has 
usually  too  fragile  a  constitution  to  permit  of  incessant  argumentation 
for  any  length  of  time.  But  Sir  John  Gladstone's  house  was  a  veritable 
gymnasium  for  William,  and  his  health  and  length  of  life  were  such  that 
he  never  needed  to  get  over  the  habits  of  his  childhood.  It  was  a  Scotch 
home  in  England, — and  it  must  always  be  remembered  that  Gladstone 
is  a  Scotchman,  with  the  ardor  and  habit  of  controversy  which  belongs 


22  GLADSTONE:   A   BIOGRAPHICAL   STUDY. 

to  the  Scotchman,  supplemented  by  true  Scotch  "canniness,"  and 
Scotch  love  of  truth.  This  home,  with  its  continuous  disputation,  gave 
Gladstone's  inherited  Toryism, — for  his  father  made  Toryism  a  part  of 
his  religion, — glorious  and  sympathetic  opportunity  to  literally  attain 
its  highest  possible  growth,  or — and  it  is  sometimes  suspected  that  this 
was  the  case — to  wear  itself  out  in  talk  and  discussion,  so  that  soon  he 
should  prove  that  Toryism  is  not  as  essential  to  a  Scotch  mind  broad- 
ening through  England  toward  a  cosmopolitan  spirit  as  is  either  truth, 
liberty,  or  that  which  is  still  more  important  to  a  Scotchman, — religion. 
One  of  Gladstone's  earlier  biographers  tells  us  that — 

"Nothing  was  ever  taken  for  granted  between  the  father  and  his  sons. 
A  succession  of  arguments  on  great  topics  and  small  topics  alike — argu- 
ments conducted  with  perfect  good  humor,  but  also  with  the  most  im- 
placable logic — formed  the  staple  of  the  family  conversations.  The  children 
and  their  parents  argued  upon  everything.  *  *  *  They  would  debate 
as  to  whether  the  trout  should  be  boiled  or  broiled,  whether  a  window 
should  be  opened,  and  whether  it  was  like  to  be  fine  or  not  the  next  day.  It 
was  all  perfectly  good  humored,  but  curious  to  a  stranger  because  of  the 
evident  care  which  all  the  disputants  took  to  advance  no  proposition,  even  as 
to  the  prospect  of  rain,  rashly.'' 

This  state  of  things  in  his  childhood  will  account  for  the  gravity  of 
Mr.  Gladstone's  behavior  when  he  dealt  with  subjects  small  in  propor- 
tion to  other  themes  occupying  the  attention  of  his  eager  spirit.  Glad- 
stone's sense  of  humor  has  never  furnished  him  with  that  perspective  in 
which  alone  small  things  are  seen  in  their  proper  relationship  to  great 
things.  John  Bright's  humor  would  have  saved  him  oftentimes  from 
furnishing  to  the  world  a  picture  like  that  in  which  a  steel-clad  man- 
of-war  is  seen  opening  it  batteries  against  an  argosy  of  dories.  Even 
in  his  childhood  home,  the  humor  of  the  situation  did  not  always  im- 
press him. 

As  he  advanced  in  life,  William  E.  Gladstone  grew  younger  with 
each  year,  and  not  only  allowed  the  circumstances  of  his  own  career  to 
be  illumined  by  the  gayeties  of  wit  and  humor,  but  he  took  an  almost 
marvelous  interest — if  any  interest  may  be  called  marvelous  in  his  won- 
derful life — in  irradiating  the  paths  of  steady  thinkers  and  the  ways  pur- 


PARENTAGE  AND   YOUTH.  23 

sued  by  overworked  enthusiasts  with  a  delicate  humor  and  sparkling- 
wit  unknown  to  his  friends  in  youth  or  even  middle  age.  The  fountains 
of  humor  which  lay  concealed  in  this  profound  and  serious  spirit  often- 
times bubbled  forth  in  unexpected  places  in  his  argument.  There  is 
always  a  certain  intensity  of  conviction  shining  through  the  brilliant 
sayings,  but  the  humor  is  so  true  and  fresh  and  pure  that  the  prismatic 
colors  of  his  many-sided  nature  appear  nowhere  at  better  advantage. 

Toryism  in  the  home  of  Sir  John  Gladstone  was  what  it  often  is, — 
a  habit  of  mind.  Von  Biilow  has  spoken  of  the  tenor  voice  as  a  disease, 
and  to  a  progressive  spirit  such  Toryism  as  that  in  which  William  Glad- 
stone found  himself  growing  from  youth  to  manhood,  and  for  which  the 
whole  family  ran  in  races  of  argument,  each  unconsciously  training 
William  Gladstone  in  fluency  of  utterance  and  dialectical  skill,  must 
ever  appear  well-nigh  a  disease.  This  study  of  Gladstone  seeks  so  to 
present  his  career  that  we  may  see  how  nobly  the  young  Scotchman, 
even  though  oftentimes  the  victim  of  his  Scotch  "canniness,"  yet  always 
the  servitor  and  apostle  of  his  Scotch  religiousness,  possessing  the 
Scotch  passion  for  controversy  and  the  Scotch  subtlety  and  ardor  of 
speculation,  got  over  this  disease,  as  one  may  say.  He  got  so  well  over 
it,  that  his  immense  industry,  the  splendor  and  richness  of  his  oratorical 
gifts,  the  unyielding  devotion  of  his  mind  to  truth,  his  scholarship  and 
research,  his  sincere  attachment  .to  all  large  conceptions  of  liberty  and 
law,  were  at  length  converged  and  embodied  in  a  forceful  figure  offering 
vast  encouragement  to  that  Americanism  which  is  so  vitally  related  to 
the  English  constitution  whose  expositor  he  was.  Even  more,  Glad- 
stone gives  to  all  men  a  deeper  confidence  in  the  value  and  supremacy 
of  the  ideas  whose  champion  and  defender  he  became. 

It  is  ennobling  to  believe  that  the  human  mind  is  open  to  truth, 
and  it  is  an  inspiring  confidence  that  truth  has  a  power  in  itself  to  mold 
and  to  lead  the  human  mind.  The  cynic  in  politics,  the  pessimist  in 
social  reform  can  never  have  faith  in  these  propositions.  The  ideas  for 
which  America  exists  as  an  experiment  in  human  government  have 
proved  their  native  power  to  rule,  in  the  fact  that  upon  such  a  man  as 
Gladstone,  born  and  trained,  as  we  have  seen,  in  the  very  atmosphere 
of  Toryism,  they  at  last  gained  a  supremacy  and  lifted  him  into  a  leader- 


24  GLADSTONE:    A   BIOGRAPHICAL   STUDY. 

ship  of  the  forces  of  human  progress  which  no  Toryism  can  ever  afford 
to  any  finest  intellect. 

No  doubt  the  mind  of  Mr.  Gladstone  was  so  responsive  to  every 
influence  from  without  and  to  every  conviction  from  within,  that  he 
has  furnished  a  good  deal  of  evidence  that  human  nature  at  its  highest 
and  best  is  likely  to  miss  what  our  wisdom — superior  because  it  comes 
afterward — calls  the  straight  course.  He  affords  to  a  cursory  view 
the  testimony,  that  in  politics,  the  shortest  distance  between  two  points 
is  not  invariably  a  straight  line.  Burke  was  often  quoted  by  his  suc- 
cessor to  this  effect:  "All  government  is  founded  upon  compromise 
and  barter.  But  in  all  fair  dealing  the  thing  bought  must  bear  some 
proportion  to  the  purchase  paid.  None  will  barter  away  the  immediate 
jewel  of  the  soul."  There  Gladstone  has  taken  his  stand.  Knowing 
when  the  jewel  of  the  soul  was  asked  for,  he  has  been  quick  to  turn 
about  and  refuse  its  transfer.  He  has  dared  to  be  inconsistent. 

Mr.  Gladstone's  superiority  of  intelligence  and  masterful  learning 
have  made  him  all  the  more  eminent  as  an  example  of  the  ease  with 
which  an  imaginative  mind  finds  that  logic  is  something  else  than  a 
necessity  of  the  soul,  or  the  bread  of  life.  It  is  a  long  journey  from 
Toryism  to  Liberalism  in  anything, — for  Toryism  is  not  so  much  a  set 
of  views  taken  and  easily  looked  at,  as  it  is  a  point  of  view  from  which 
only  certain  views  may  be  taken.  A  good  deal  might  be  said  with  refer- 
ence to  Mr.  Gladstone  and  the  quality  of  his  mind  and  the  sincerity  of 
his  life,  by  comparison  of  Gladstone  the  statesman  with  Gladstone  the 
theologian.  Mr.  Gladstone  has  always  wished  to  be  a  Conservative  of 
the  best  sort, — that  is  to  be  a  preserver  of  the  good,  to  hold  to  the  truth 
and  the  institutions  in  whose  forms  truth  binds  the  past  to  the  future. 
But  he  was  inconvenienced  by  possessing  a  daring  intellect,  or  rather 
it  possessed  him.  He  has  seemed  to  speculate  in  statesmanship,  and 
at  the  very  hour  when  he  had  gone  short  in  the  market  on  Conservatism 
in  one  direction,  he  has  hedged,  so  to  speak,  in  the  other,  and  freed  him- 
self of  all  Liberalism  in  theology.  Within  a  week  after  he  made  Eng- 
land feel  that  in  politics,  to  use  a  word  of  Emerson's,  "all  things  are 
at  a  risk',"  he  issued  a  pamphlet  in  championship  of  some  ven- 
erable view  of  Scripture  interpretation,  over  which  the  good-natured 


PARENTAGE  AND   YOUTH.  25 

Englishman,  weary  of  the  peril  of  thinking,  approvingly  shrugged  his 
shoulders  while  he  drained  his  glass  of  port  and  caressed  his  copy  oi 
Butler's  Analogy,  saying  to  himself  meanwhile:  "Well,  everything  in  the 
Church  at  least  is  secure,  and  it  will  be,  just  as  it  was  in  the  time  of  the 
Bishop  of  Durham,  if  Gladstone  only  has  his  way." 

This  is  not  the  place,  even  if  there  be  any  in  this  volume,  to  treat 
of  Gladstone's  theological  and  ecclesiastical  excursions,  but  any  study 
of  the  subject  in  comparison  with  his  career  as  a  politician,  would  simply 
throw  into  relief  the  ideas  already  expressed.  The  distance  between 
Toryism  and  Liberalism  in  any  realm  of  life, — having  consented  to  the 
fact  that  Toryism  is  a  habit  of  mind,  rather  than  a  set  of  opinions — is 
so  great,  and  the  rocks  and  shoals  and  currents  are  so  numerous,  the 
vacant  spaces  where  motion  seems  to  fail  and  where  the  ship  is  sure  to 
be  becalmed,  are  also  so  many,  there  is  such  necessity  for  taking  advan- 
tage of  this  breath  of  air  or  ,the  fringe  of  that  gale  or  the  edge  of  this 
tempest,  that  any  worthy  sailor,  especially  when  he  has  a  crew  on  board, 
all  of  whom  have  the  liberty  to  give  orders,  granted  by  a  constitutional 
government,  and  all  of  whom  have  to  be  at  least  consulted  whenever 
their  opinions  are  of  the  least  possible  value,  must  be  allowed  to  tack 
ship.  Mr.  Gladstone  has  often  tacked  ship,  to  the  everlasting  embarrass- 
ment of  his  friends  and  to  the  horror  of  his  foes,  but  his  life  and  its 
achievements  prove  that,  in  spite  of  all  these  difficulties  hitherto  men- 
tioned, and,  indeed,  while  supremely  conquering  them,  he  has  always 
known  where  he  was  going,  and  he  has  signally  triumphed  in  arriving 
there. 

Mr.  Gladstone's  journey  from  Toryism  to  Liberalism  pulled  every 
heartstring  which  united  him  to  his  home,  and  yet  it  is  astonishing 
that  he  drew  after  him,  by  might  of  his  own  convictions  and  the  in- 
fluence of  his  progressive  eloquence,  many  who  seemed  hopelessly 
involved  with  the  antiquities  and  prejudices  of  the  Tory  position. 
Disraeli,  at  a  later  time,  with  that  sneer  which  traversed  often  across 
the  delicate  and  sensitive  nerves  which  bound  Gladstone  to  his  past, 
taunted  him  with  regard  to  his  departure  from  parental  dogmas,  and 
Gladstone  swiftly  and  honorably  acknowledged  the  nature  of  his  former 
position  in  these  words:  "I  was  bred  under  the  shadow  of  the  great 


26  GLADSTONE:    A   BIOGRAPHICAL   STUDY. 

name  of  Canning;  every  influence  connected  with  that  great  name  gov- 
erned the  politics  of  my  childhood  and  of  my  youth." 

The  school-boy  days  passed  in  the  genial  and  lovely  environment 
of  the  Vicarage  of  Seaforth.  Here  the  boy  sported  and  dreamed  and 
became  acquainted  with  the  literatures  of  the  leading  nations  of  the 
world. 

In  the  "Life  and  Letters  of  Dean  Stanley"  (Charles  Scribner's  Sons, 
N.  Y.),  we  are  told  some  things  about  Seaforth,  which  is  described  as: 
"then  a  quiet  seaside  hamlet  at  the  mouth  of  the  Mersey,  now  trans- 
formed into  a  populous  suburb  of  Liverpool."  The  school  was  cared  for 
by  the  incumbent  of  the  church  near  Seaforth. 

In  a  note,  we  are  informed  that  "the  name  Seaforth,  as  denoting 
a  locality  in  the  neighborhood  of  Liverpool,  demands  a  word  of  explana- 
tion. It  was  borrowed,  early  in  the  present  century,  for  his  house,  and 
the  surrounding  land,  at  that  time  entirely  uninhabited,  by  the  elder 
Mr.  Gladstone,  from  the  title  of  Lord  Seaforth,  the  head  of  the  Macken- 
zies,  the  family  to  which  his  mother  belonged." 

The  biography  further  says:  "Among  the  very  first  letters  is  one 
of  November,  1824,  to  his  mother,  recounting  a  visit  to  Mr.  Gladstone's, 
describing  fully  the  stuffed  animals  \vhich  he  saw  there,  and,  after  tell- 
ing her  that  he  'has  quite  finished  As  in  Prsesenti/  adding,  'there  is  an 
Illiad  (sic)  here  which  I  like  very  much,  for  it  is  all  about  the  gods  and 
the  Grecians  and  Trojans.'  From  that  time  the  current  flows  home- 
ward unceasingly,  though  he  often  deprecates  his  sister  Mary's  re- 
proaches. 'You  know  I  am  always  a  shocking  letter- writer.  Sometimes 
I  am  in  a  humor  for  writing,  and  sometimes  not.'  'No  such  things  hap- 
pen at  school  as  at  home.'  A  day's  visit  to  Liverpool  is  welcomed  be- 
cause it  'gives  him  something  to  write  about,'  but  in  the  main  the  facile 
pen  of  the  future  is  already  there  in  germ. 

"  'He  is  grown/  his  mother  writes  in  December,  1824,  on  his  first 
return  home,  'and  his  hands  feel  more  substantial.  The  report  of  him 
is  that  he  is  as  rough  as  the  other  boys  when  with  them,  but  of  this  there 
is  no  symptom.  The  shyness,  coloring,  reserve  and  susceptibility  seem 
to  be  rather  increased.'  But  his  lips  were  clearly  unlocked  towards  his 
schoolfellows.  Southey  had  been,  and  still  was,  his  favorite  poet.  'We 


PARENTAGE  AND   YOUTH.  27 

have  great  fun,'  he  writes  to  Mrs.  Stanley  in  February,  1825,  'play- 
ing at  "Thalaba  and  Kehama."  I  am  Khawla  and  Handfield  is  Mo- 
hareb,  and  I  tell  them  stories  at  night.'  Canon  Rawstorne,  his  school- 
fellow at  Seaforth,  and  afterwards  his  fag  at  Rugby,  remembers  'his 
remarkable  gift  as  a  raconteur,  and  his  relating  to  a  group  of  boys  in 
a  corner  of  the  sand  hills  a  great  part  of  the  story  of  "Kenilworth," 
especially  that  part  about  Wayland  Smith.  I  think  all  his  stories  were 
recollections  from  books,  for  he  was  never  very  great  at  invention.' 

"He  has  been  taken  to  Liverpool,  and  writes,  in  a  letter  to  his  sister, 
that  he  has  'seen  a  giant,  who  said  he  had  been  in  Bonaparte's  army;' 
and  again,  'I  have  seen  "Waverly"  acted,  and  liked  it  very  much;'  and 
there  is  a  graphic  account  on  November  12,  which  assumes  larger  pro- 
portions in  each  successive  year,  of  the  bonfire  and  fireworks  on  the  5th 
of  November.  'One  of  the  boys  had  bought  a  very  tall  Pope  for  the 
bonfire,  and  a  Guy  Fawkes,  .  ._  .  Mr.  Gladstone  gave  the  wood, 
and  we  had  tar  barrels,  and  it  was  great  fun.'  But  his  heart  was  more 
in  his  books  than  in  his  play,  and  with  each  half-year  the  literary  in- 
stinct becomes  more  developed.  'How  do  you  like  "Madoc"?'  he  asks 
his  sister;  'not  so  much  as  "Roderic,"  I  am  sure.' ' 

So  much  is  reprinted  as  showing  Gladstone's  early  environment,  for 
he  was  Stanley's  fellow  pupil  under  Mr.  Rawson. 

From  a  letter  of  Stanley's,  June  26,  we  reproduce  the  following: 
"How  delightful — how  enchanting — how  charming!  How  much  better 
than  Rouen  is  this,  so  far  away,  so  nice  to  have  Auntie  and  Lucy,  so 
romantic  to  ride  over  the  mountains  on  mules,  through  verdant  valleys 
and  snow-capped  hills!  And  the  Spaniards,  too,  and  the  Cagots — I 
must  get  benighted  and  go  to  a  'Cagot's'  hut.  .  .  .  William  Glad- 
stone is  at  home  now,  and  last  Tuesday  I  and  one  of  the  other  boys 
were  invited  to  breakfast  with  him;  so  we  went,  had  breakfast  in  grand 
style,  went  into  the  garden  and  devoured  strawberries,  which  were 
there  in  great  abundance,  unchained  the  great  Newfoundland,  and 
swam  him  in  the  pond;  we  walked  about  the  garden,  went  into  the 
house  and  saw  beautiful  pictures  of  Shakespeare's  plays,  and  came 
away  at  twelve  o'clock.  It  wras  very  good  fun,  and  I  don't  think  I  was 
very  shy,  for  I  talked  to  William  Gladstone  almost  all  the  time  about 


:*8  GLADSTONE:   A   BIOGRAPHICAL   STUDY. 

all  sorts  of  things.  He  was  so  very  good-natured,  and  I  like  him  very 
much.  He  talked  a  great  deal  about  Eton,  and  said  it  was  a  very  good 
place  for  those  who  liked  boating  and  Latin  verses.  I  think  from  what 
he  said,  I  might  get  to  like  it.  ...  He  was  very  good-natured 
to  us  all  the  time,  and  lent  me  books  to  read  when  we  went  away,  'The 
Etonian,'  etc.  .  .  .  Oh!  how  soon — next  Tuesday  week,  and  then 
the  sea,  the  Pyrenees!" 

Gladstone  did  not  look  back  upon  his  Eton  days  as  days  in  which 
his  religious  sensibilities  had  their  best  environment.  In  his  famous 
"Chapter  of  Autobiography"  he  referred  to  the  churches  of  that  time: 
"That  time  was  a  time  such  as  comes  after  sickness,  to  a  man 
in  the  flower  of  life,  with  an  unimpaired  and  buoyant  constitution;  the 
time  in  which,  though  health  is  as  yet  incomplete,  the  sense  and  the 
joy  of  health  are  keener,  as  the  fresh  and  living  current  first  flows  in, 
than  are  conveyed  by  its  even  and  undisturbed  possession. 

f  "The  Church  of  England  had  been  passing  through  a  long  period 
of  deep  and  chronic  religious  lethargy.  For  many  years,  perhaps  for 
some  generations,  Christendom  might  have  been  challenged  to  show, 
either  then  or  from  any  former  age,  a  clergy  (with  exception)  so  secular 
and  lax,  or  congregations  so  cold,  irreverent,  and  indevout.  The  pro- 
cess of  awakening  had,  indeed,  begun  many  years  before;  but  a  very 
long  time  is  required  to  stir  up  effectually  a  torpid  body,  whose  dimen- 
sions overspread  a  great  country.  Active  piety  and  zeal  among  the 
clergy,  and  yet  more  among  the  laity,  had  been  in  a  great  degree  con^- 
fined  within  the  narrow  limits  of  a  party,  which,  however  meritorious  in 
its  work,  presented  in  the  main  phenomena  of  transition,  and  laid  but 
little  hold  on  the  higher  intellect  and  cultivation  of  the  country. 

"Our  churches  and  our  worship  bore  in  general  too  conclusive  testi- 
mony to  a  frozen  indifference.  No  effort  had  been  made  either  to  over- 
take the  religious  destitution  of  the  multitudes  at  home,  or  to  follow 
the  numerous  children  of  the  church,  migrating  into  distant  lands, 
with  any  due  provision  for  their  spiritual  wants.  The  richer  benefices 
were  very  commonly  regarded  as  a  suitable  provision  for  such  mem- 
bers of  the  higher  families,  as  were  least  fit  to  push  their  way  in  any 
profession  requiring  thought  or  labor.  The  abuses  of  plurality  and 


PARENTAGE   AND   YOUTH.  29 

non-residence  were  at  a  height,  which,  if  not  proved  by  statistical 
returns,  it  would  now  be  scarcely  possible  to  believe.  At  Eton,  the 
greatest  public  school  of  the  country  (and  I  presume  it  may  be  taken 
as  a  sample  of  the  rest),  the  actual  teaching  of  Christianity  was  all  but 
dead,  though  happily  none  of  its  forms  had  been  surrendered.  It  is  a 
retrospect  full  of  gloom;  and  with  all  our  Romanizing,  and  all  our 
Rationalizing,  what  man  of  sense  would  wish  to  go  back  upon  those 
dreary  times: 

"  'Domos  Ditis  vacuas,  et  inania  regna?'  " 

Later  in  life  he  said  he  would  think  better  of  Eton  if  Homer  had  been 
studied  there. 

As  an  old  man,  in  March,  1891,  he  gave  another  picture  of  Eton, 
or  one  from  another  point  of  view.  He  said  to  the  Eton  students: 

"When  I  was  a  boy  I  cared  nothing  at  all  about  the  Homeric  gods. 
I  did  not  enter  into  the  subject  until  thirty  or  forty  years  afterwards, 
when,  in  a  conversation  with  Dr.  Pusey,  who,  like  me,  had  been  an  Eton 
boy,  he  told  me,  having  more  sense  and  brains  than  I  had,  that  he  took 
the  deepest  interest  and  had  the  greatest  curiosity  about  these  Homeric 
gods.  They  are  of  the  greatest  interest,  and  you  cannot  really  study 
the  text  of  Homer  without  gathering  fruits;  and  the  more  you  study 
him  the  more  you  will  be  astonished  at  the  multitude  of  lessons  and 
the  completeness  of  the  picture  which  he  gives  you.  There  is  a  perfect 
encyclopaedia  of  human  character  and  human  experience  in  the  poems  of 
Homer,  more  complete  in  every  detail  than  is  elsewhere  furnished  to  us 
of  Achaian  life." 


CHAPTER   II. 
SCHOOL  DAYS   AT    ETON. 

Mr.  Gladstone  has  always  appeared  with  such  attractions  and 
graces  adding  their  charm  to  his  figure  and  the  influence  diffusing  from 
his  physical  presence,  that  one  can  readily  believe  what  Sir  Francis 
Murchison  says,  that  "he  was  the  prettiest  boy  that  ever  went  to  Eton." 
He  was  eleven  years  of  age  at  this  time.  .  No  one  at  Eton,  except  that 
embodiment  of  "spiritual  splendor"  known  as  Arthur  Henry  Hallam, 
furnished  such  a  fascinating  picture  of  childhood,  docile,  happy,  inno- 
cent, graceful  and  promising,  opening  its  treasure-house  of  possibility 
to  the  influences  of  culture  and  yielding  to  the  forces  of  literature  and 
science  and  the  guidance  of  such  teachers  as  then  made  Eton  the  most 
desirable  place  for  such  a  youth.  Gladstone's  spirit  was  even  then  lofty 
and  sovereign  over  his  companions.  Bishop  Hamilton  of  Salisbury 
is  not  the  only  prelate,  statesman,  or  man  of  letters  who  has  left  a  state- 
ment of  his  gratitude  that  Providence  gave  to  his  young  life  the  pure 
and  uplifting  influence  of  William  Ewart  Gladstone.  Arthur  Henry 
Hallam,  whom  Tennyson's  poetry  has  enshrined  with  scarcely  more  of 
richness  than  the  less  musical  prose  of  Mr.  Gladstone,  writes  of  his  com- 
panion and  friend:  "...  Whatever  may  be  our  lot,  I  am  con- 
vinced that  he  is  a  bud  that  will  bloom  with  a  richer  fragrance  than 
almost  any  other  whose  early  promise  I  have  witnessed."  This  state- 
ment must  be  taken,  however,  in  full  view  of  the  fact  that  there  were 
other  men,  either  students  or  teachers,  at  Eton,  who  were  attracted  by 
Hallam's  genius,  who  also  believed  that  he,  and  not  Gladstone,  would  be 
the  great  man  of  England. 

The  almost  unmatched  laboriousness  of  later  days  was  prophesied 
in  the  scholarly  habits  and  zeal  of  the  Eton  pupil  at  this  time.  In  the 
holidays  he  studied  mathematics  and  read  poetry.  He  wandered  into 
the  regions  which  history  makes  easy  of  access,  and  he  put  behind  his 

30 


SCHOOL   DAYS   AT   ETON.  31 

active  career  the  vast  and  illuminative  background  of  the  countless  years 
and  processes  along  which  man  had  come  to  the  problems  which  he  was 
to  confront  as  an  English  statesman.  No  wonder  that  in  1860,  as  the 
officer  of  the  University  of  Edinburgh,  he  could  address  the  multitude 
of  expectant  and  ardent  students  in  these  sentences: 

"The  mountain-tops  of  Scotland  behold  on  every  side  of  them  the  wit- 
ness, and  many  a  one,  of  what  were  once  her  morasses  and  her  moorlands, 
now  blossoming  as  the  rose,  carries  on  its  face  the  proof  of  how  truly  it  is 
in  man  and  not  in  his  circumstances  that  the  secret  of  his  destiny  resides. 
For  most  of  you  that  destiny  will  take  its  final  bent  towards  evil  or  towards 
good,  not  from  the  information  you  imbibe,  but  from  the  habits  of  thought, 
mind  and  life  that  you  shall  acquire,  during  your  academical  career.  Could 
you  with  the  bodily  eye  watch  the  moments  of  it  as  they  fly,  you  would  see 
them  all  pass  you,  as  the  bee  that  has  rifled  the  heather  bears  its  honey 
through  the  air,  charged  with  the  promise,  or  it  may  be  the  menace,  of  the 
future.  In  many  things  it  is  wise  to  believe  before  experience;  to  believe, 
until  you  may  know ;  and  believe  me  when  I  tell  you  that  the  thrift  of  time 
will  repay  you  in  after  life  with  an  usury  of  profit  beyond  your  most  san- 
guine dreams,  and  that  the  waste  of  it  will  make  you  dwindle  alike  in  in- 
tellectual and  in  moral  stature,  beneath  your  darkest  reckoning." 

Yet  Gladstone  was  no  saint,  or  ascetic,  or  scholarly  recluse  wasting 
fiber  and  blood  in  unwise  pursuit  even  of  the  truths  of  science  and  math- 
ematics. He  was  always  a  great  walker,  easily  able  to  tire  out  three  or 
four  other  men  in  the  course  of  a  day,  while  he  talked  incessantly  either 
of  poetry,  art,  old  china,  religion,  or  politics.  This  habit  began  with 
him  at  Eton,  where  he  constantly  exercised  his  body  by  rowing,  and 
prepared  his  physical  nature  to  endure  the  terrible  strain  of  the  stormful 
years  to  come.  His  contentiousness  was  easily  excited,  and  there  can 
be  little  doubt  that  Gladstone  was  willing  to  take  care  of  himself  in 
an  affair  involving  the  use  of  his  fists  rather  than  the  exercise  of  his 
powers  of  thought.  His  manly  courage  expressed  itself  in  his  modera- 
tion, and  at  one  time  he  made  stern  refusal  to  drink  the  customary  toast 
at  an  anniversary  dinner.  He  challenged  a  bully  with  the  same  eager- 
ness, and  handled  him  with  the  same  skill  and  strength  as  many  another 
youth  has  done  who  had  nothing  of  Gladstone's  hope  of  future  great- 
ness. But  the  literary  and  eloquent  man  is  so  often  a  physical  coward 


32  GLADSTONE:   A  BIOGRAPHICAL   STUDY. 

that  it  is  fair  to  state  here  that  Mr.  Gladstone  has  never  failed  when  it 
was  necessary  or  advisable  to  enter  any  kind  of  conflict.  As  a  boy  at 
Eton  or  at  Oxford  he  was  in  the  habit  of  obeying  Sir  Philip  Sidney's 
word,  and  if  he  heard  of  a  good  fight,  he  went  to  it  and  did  his  part. 

There  were  no  prizes  for  Gladstone  at  Eton.  He  read  a  great  deal 
outside  of  the  prescribed  books,  and  made  himself  familiar  with  those 
pages  of  English  poetry  from  which  he  quoted  all  his  life.  It  was  natural 
that  this  should  stir  a  verse-writing  tendency  in  his  own  rhythmic 
nature,  and  he  produced  verses  of  such  excellence  that  he  was  "visited 
with  honor.  A  literary  career  seemed  to  be  most  attractive  Jo  him  at  this 
time.  It  is  his  mind  which  most  of  all  guides  and  enriches  the  "Eton 
Miscellany."  The  calmness  and  literary  poise  of  his  work  here  are 
equaled  only  by  its  brilliant  promise.  Somewhat  too  majestic  are  his 
early  utterances,  but  the  fact  is  that  a  man  who  is  not  very  lofty  or  very 
florid  in  his  youth,  is  not  likely  to  be  either  high  or  even  interesting  in 
his  old  age.  The  closing  passage  of  his  introduction  has  humor: 

"I  was  surprised  to  see  some  works  with  the  names  of  Shakespeare 
and  Milton  on  them  sharing  the  common  destiny;  but  on  examination 
I  found  that  those  of  the  latter  were  some  political  rhapsodies  which 
richly  deserved  their  fate;  and  that  the  former  consisted  of  some  edi- 
tions of  his  works  which  had  been  burdened  with  notes  and  mangled 
with  emendations  by  his  merciless  commentators.  In  other  places  I 
perceived  authors  worked  up  into  a  frenzy  by  seeing  their  own  com- 
positions descending  like  the  rest.  Often  did  the  infuriated  scribes 
extend  their  hands,  and  make  a  plunge  to  endeavor  to  save  their  be- 
loved offspring,  but  in  vain.  I  pitied  the  anguish  of  their  disappoint- 
ment, but  with  feelings  of  the  same  commiseration  as  that  which  one 
feels  for  a  malefactor  on  beholding  his  death,  being  at  the  same  time 
fully  conscious  how  well  he  deserved  it." 

He  rendered  a  chorus  of  the  "Hecuba  of  Euripides,"  and  it  is  in- 
stinct with  the  spirit  of  the  original.  The  sense  of  humor  which  came  to 
b<*  a  redeeming  feature  in  many  of  the  stormful  times  of  his  later  life, 
which  was  never  as  large  and  spontaneous  as  it  might  have  been,  ex- 
pressed itself  in  his  "Views  of  Lethe,"  which  was  one  of  his  many  con- 
tributions to  the  "Eton  Miscellany:" 


Q 
a; 
O 

PL, 
X 
O 

u 
O 

w 
-J 
_> 
O 

u 


E 
U 


O 
2 

2 

5 


Q 
Ctf 
O 

St 
I 

O 

w 


O 
O 

w 
5 

O 


O 


SCHOOL   DAYS   AT    ETON.  33 

"In  my  present  undertaking  there  is  one  gulf  in  which  I  fear  to 
sink,  and  that  gulf  is  Lethe.  There  is  one  stream  which  I  dread  my  in- 
ability to  stem;  it  is  the  tide  of  Popular  Opinion.  ...  At  present 
it  is  hope  alone  that  buoys  me  up;  for  more  substantial  support  I  must 
be  indebted  to  my  own  exertions,  well  knowing  that  in  this  land  of 
literature  merit  never  wants  its  reward.  That  such  merit  is  mine  I 
dare  not  presume  to  think;  but  still  there  is  something  within  me 
that  bids  me  hope  that  I  may  be  able  to  glide  prosperously  down  the 
stream  of  public  estimation;  or,  in  the  words  of  Virgil: 

" — Celerare  viam  rumore  secundo." 

("To  take  my  way  amid  the  world's  acclaim.") 

Gladstone  could  hardly  be  called  a  very  precocious  youth.  Indeed, 
so  solid  were  his  attainments  that  they  scarcely  demand  remark,  save  in 
this,  that  they  were  such  attainments  as  in  the  after  life  of  this  scholar 
and  statesman  have  been  of  the  utmost  value. 

No  suggestion  of  future  greatness  was  unfulfilled  in  Gladstone, 
largely  because  at  a  time  when  others  have  fanned  the  flame  of  genius, 
his  mind  was  directed  to  acquire  for  himself  habits  of  mind  and  wealth 
of  information  such  as  would  strengthen  him  for  the  conflict  with 
ignorance  and  prejudice  and  wrong.  Beautiful  indeed  has  been  the 
picture  of  this  boy  romping  about  Windsor,  filling  his  spirit  with  that 
flood  of  historic  intelligence  which  comes  through  every  such  place  and 
appeals  strongly  to  every  such  spirit,  learning  to  do  his  duty  and  to 
revere  the  institutions  which  had  come  out  of  the  sacred  past,  and 
thrilled  now  and  then  with  the  vision  of  the  future  which  made  his  blood 
run  more  swiftly  in  pure  and  healthy  veins,  and  his  mind  attach  itself 
through  warm  affections  to  the  young  men  who  furnished  him  with  the 
rarest  companionship  in  thought  and  in  hope,  and  to  his  teachers,  who, 
from  the  first,  saw  rising  before  them  a  personality  whose  contribution, 
either  to  literature,  politics,  art,  or  religion,  was  worthy  to  be  guarded 
and  preserved. 

Capacity  for  friendship  has  been  one  of  Gladstone's  most  notable 
qualities,  and  it  is  doubtful  if  more  of  his  genius  has  not  been  invested 
in  his  personal  friendships  than  in  aught  else  in  his  life.  When  one 


34  GLADSTONE:    A   BIOGRAPHICAL   STUDY. 

considers  the  number  and  kinds  of  letters  which  have  been  written  out 
of  his  heart  and  have  found  their  way  into  the  biographies  published 
in  the  last  fifty  years,  and  especially  when  one  looks  upon  these  letters 
as  the  personal  bonds  along  which  traveled  from  mind  to  mind  the  best 
life  of  the  writer  and  the  reader,  one  has  some  conception  of  how  in- 
tense and  comprehensive  and  true  was  the  soul  whose  outpourings  they 
are.  They  evince  an  incisive  intellect;  they  prove  a  tender  heart.  Many 
of  his  friendships  began  in  early  life.  At  Eton  he  was  warmly  attached 
to  Alexander  Kinglake,  who  afterwards  differed  from  him  with  that 
severity  and  outspokenness  which  have  left  their  mark  in  historical 
literature,  and  Frederick  Tennyson, — far  too  little  read  and  appre- 
ciated as  a  student  of  classical  life  and  as  a  poet  bringing  back  to  us  the 
light  and  atmosphere  of  Greece — spent  many  a  long  evening  with 
young  Gladstone  over  subjects  which  the  latter  was  to  master  and 
illuminate.  He  knew  well  the  two  boys  who  were  to  become,  the 
one  Earl  of  Elgin,  the  other  Earl  Canning.  The  friendship  of  Gladstone 
and  Kinglake1  was  never  broken,  though  the  former  was  likely  to  write 
of  Gladstone  in  the  manner  which  the  following  extract  will  indicate: 

"If  Mr.  Gladstone  was  famous  among  us  for  the  splendor  of  his  elo- 
quence, his  unaffected  piety,  and  for  his  blameless  life  he  was  also  celebrated 
far  and  wide  for  a  more  than  common  liveliness  of  conscience.  He  had 
once  imagined  it  to  be  his  duty  to  quit  a  government,  and  to  burst  through 
strong  ties  of  friendship  and  gratitude,  by  reason  of  a  thin  shade  of  differ- 
ence on  the  subject  of  white  or  brown  sugar.  .  .  .  His  friends  lived  in 
dread  of  his  virtues,  as  tending  to  make  him  whimsical  and  unstable;  and 
the  practical  politicians,  perceiving  he  was  not  to  be  depended  on  for  party 
purposes,  and  was  bent  upon  none  but  lofty  objects,  used  to  look  upon 
him  as  dangerous,  used  to  call  him  behind  his  back  a  good  man,  in  the 
worst  sense  of  the  term." 

This  was  written  in  1865,  after  Oxford  had  been  represented  by  him 
in  the  House  of  Commons  and  Gladstone  had  grown  beyond  the  con- 
fines of  its  Conservative  sympathies.  It  was  also  after  the  great  Chan- 
cellor of  the  Exchequer  had  opposed  the  Crimean  War,  whose  historian 
Kinglake  became. 

Most  intimate  among  Gladstone's  friends  was  the  beautiful  and 
promising  youth  already  referred  to,  whose  personality  Tennyson  has 


SCHOOL   DAYS   AT    ETON.  35 

memorialized  in  the  largest  and  sweetest  threnody  in  any  language- 
Arthur  Henry  Hailam.  Gladstone  and  Hallam  were  breakfasting  to- 
gether, walking  together,  rowing  together,  reading  poetry  together, 
discussing  historical  characters  and  marking  out  courses  each  for  the 
other,  during  school  time,  and  in  the  short  vacations  they  entered  into 
lively  correspondence,  some  of  which  is  as  tender  and  beautiful  as  the 
lines  of  the  late  Poet  Laureate,  whose  love  for  Hallam  was  equalled  only 
by  Gladstone's.  Gladstone  seems  never  to  have  passed  from  under 
the  subtle  and  glowing  influence  of  Hallam.  He  saw  him  at  the  dawn, 
and  all  the  tremulous  colors  of  that  era  of  his  life  drifted  into  the  soul 
and  memory  of  the  great  political  leader  who  then  shared  his  friendship 
so  profoundly. 

Hallam  persisted  that  Gladstone  could  write  better  things  than  even 
his  early  verses  on  Canning: 

Yet  while  I  mourn  with  low  and  feeble  strain, 

The  dearth  of  children  of  the  lofty  lyre, 
And  while  I  weep  for  that  Parnassian  plain, 

Where  wont  to  gleam  the  Poet's  noble  fire; 
Where  old  Maeonides  sublimer  sings, 
Than  e'er  on  earth,  of  heroes,  sages,  kings; 
Where  Virgil  quaffs  the  waters  of  the  blest — 
The  sacred  bands  in  seats  of  gladness  rest — 
Yet  let  my  Muse  her  humble  tribute  pay 
To  Canning's  eloquence,  to  Canning's  lay. 
Say  not  the  flow'rs  of  poesy  are  dead, 
While  the  Nine  wreathe  with  laurels  Canning's  head: 
Say  not  the  fount  of  eloquence  is  dry, 
It  springs  from  Canning's  lip,  and  sparkles  in  his  eyef 
Yet,  ah!   the  bright  but  evanescent  fire 
Burn'd  but  to  die.  and  gleam 'd  but  to  expire! 
The  buds  of  Poesy  the -Muses  gave, 
Neglected  lie,  and  wither  in  the  grave. 
Far  other  tasks  his  patriot  care  demand, 

Far  other  thoughts  his  ardent  soul  employ; 
The  helm  of  England  needs  his  guiding  hand, 

A  nation's  wonder,  and  a  nation's  joy. 
He  is  the  pilot  that  our  God  hath  sent 
To  guide  the  vessel  that  was  tost  and  rent! 


36  GLADSTONE:    A   BIOGRAPHICAL   STUDY. 

Exalt  thine  head,  Etona,  and  rejoice, 
Glad  in  a  nation's  loud  acclaiming  voice; 
And  'mid  the  tumult  and  the  clamor  wild, 
Exult  in  Canning — say,  -he  was  thy  child. 

It  is  at  this  time  that  Gladstone  first  appeared  before  his  contem- 
poraries as  a  promising  orator.  It  required  not  a  stroke  of  genius  to 
discover  soon  that  the  literary  attainments  and  dialectical  skill  of  this 
youth  would  probably  be  swept  into  the  stream  of  eloquence  which  his 
lips  alone  might  bring  forth.  Gladstone  became  less  interested  in  games 
as  he  went  on  toward  manhood,  and  perhaps  a  little  less  popular,  even, 
avoiding  the  usual  course  of  such  a  man  in  declining  to  enter  the  debates 
of  the  Literati,  which  society  dominated  at  Eton  in  the  very  way  in 
which  Gladstone  himself  was  to  dominate  elsewhere.  Young  men  at 
this  time  of  life  are  not  likely  to  avoid  themes  of  the  largest  importance, 
and  Gladstone  soon  was  toiling  with  questions  of  literature,  politics, 
history,  and  philosophy,  giving  to  each  theme  a  laboriousness  and  skill, 
a  courage  and  earnestness  truly  audacious  except  in  a  stripling  certain 
to  be  one  of  the  most  forceful  debaters  of  all  time. 

It  was  very  evident  that  Gladstone  had  breathed  and  assimilated 
Toryism  when  he  debated  on  the  fate  of  Thomas  Wentworth,  Earl  of 
Strafford.  He  afterwards  had  a  good  deal  of  difficulty  in  reconciling 
the  progress  of  his  mind  with  either  Strafford  or  Charles  the  First,  but 
on  this  occasion  he  dignifiedly  patronizes  the  House  of  Commons, 
"which,"  he  says,  "we  ought  to  be  able  to  revere  as  our  glory  and  con- 
fide in  as  our  protection." 

In  one  of  the  most  interesting  of  the  earlier  biographies  of  Glad- 
stone we  are  told  that,  in  closing  a  speech  on  the  question  whether 
Queen  Anne's  ministers,  in  the  last  four  years  of  her  reign,  deserved 
well  of  their  country,  his  already  growing  powers,  as  well  as  his  earlier 
political  faith,  are  strikingly  illustrated: 

"Thus  much,  sir,  I  have  said  as  conceiving  myself  bound  in  fairness  not 
to  regard  the  names  under  which  men  have  hidden  their  designs  so  much  as 
the  designs  themselves.  I  am  well  aware  that  my  prejudices  have  long 
been  enlisted  on  the  side  of  Toryism  (cheers)  and  that  in  a  case  like  this 
I  am  not  likely  to  be  influenced  unfairly  against  men  having  that  name 
and  professing  to  act  on  the  principles  which  I  have  always  been  accus- 


SCHOOL   DAYS   AT    ETON.  37 

tomed  to  revere.  But  the  good  of  my  country  must  stand  on  a  higher 
ground  than  distinctions  like  these.  In  common  fairness  and  in  common 
candor,  I  feel  myself  compelled  to  give  my  decisive  verdict  against  the  con- 
duct of  men  whose  measures  T  firmly  believe  to  have  been  hostile  to  British 
interests,  destructive  of  British  glory,  and  subversive  of  the  splendid,  and, 
T  trust,  lasting  fabric  of  the  British  Constitution." 

This  suggestion  of  Gladstone's  youthful  and  self-satisfying  Toryism 
leads  us  to  remember  that  this  school  was  the  hot-bed  of  just  such  Tory- 
ism as  was  most  satisfactory  to  Sir  John  Gladstone.  Cromwell  could 
not  have  found  at  Cambridge  in  the  early  part  of  the  seventeenth  cen- 
tury a  Puritanism  more  radical  than  was  the  Toryism  which  young 
Gladstone  found  here.  The  young  orator's  leanings  in  this  direction 
are  further  exemplified  in  the  following  anecdote  of  Sir  Francis  Doyle, 
who  says:  "One  day  I  was  steadily  computing  the  odds  for  the  Derby, 
as  they  stood  in  a  morning  newspaper.  Mr.  Gladstone  leaned  on  my 
shoulder  to  look  at  the  lot  of  horses  named.  Now  it  happened  that  the 
Duke  of  Grafton  owned  a  colt  named  Hampden,  who  figured  in  the 
aforesaid  lot.  'Well/  cried  Mr.  Gladstone,  reading  off  the  odds, 
'Hampden,  at  any  rate,  I  see,  is  in  his  proper  place,  between  Zeal  and 
Lunacy/  for  such,  in  truth,  was  the  position  occupied  by  the  four- 
footed  namesake  of  that  illustrious  rebel." 

One  of  Gladstone's  ardent  schoolmates  urged  his  wish  to  accom- 
pany his  friend  to  Oxford,  giving  as  a  reason  for  his  choice  the  pros- 
pect of  their  continued  intimacy,  and  adding:  "Gladstone  is  no  or- 
dinary individual, — and  perhaps,  if  I  were  called  on  to  select  the 
individual  I  am  most  intimate  with  to  whom  I  should  first  turn  in  an 
emergency,  and  whom  I  thought  in  every  way  pre-eminently  distin- 
guished for  high  excellence,  I  think  I  should  turn  to  Gladstone.  .  .  . 
If  you  finally  decide  in  favor  of  Cambridge,  my  separation  from  Glad- 
stone will  be  a  source  of  great  sorrow  to  me." 

Having  left  Eton  at  Christmas,  1827,  the  young  man  was 
favored  by  a  short  time  of  study  with  the  best  private  tutors  Sir  John 
Gladstone  could  obtain.  The  boy  occupied  himself  in  study  and  in  the 
development  of  his  bodily  functions,  and  his  artistic  nature  found  its 
fullest  expression  in  some  excellent  wood-carving.  He  now  entered 


38  GLADSTONE:    A   BIOGRAPHICAL   STUDY. 

Christchurch  College,  Oxford.  Here  the  young  Tory  found  himself 
at  home,  and  the  very  air  and  spirit  of  the  place  matched  the  hopes 
and  proclivities  of  his  own  abounding  nature.  His  mother  wished  him 
to  go  to  Cambridge;  but  Oxford  was  his  place.  Years  after  this,  the 
statesman  and  scholar  spoke  thus  of  both  seats  of  learning: 

'The  enormous  efforts  which  they  have  made  for  self-renovation 
and  extension  prove  that,  after  so  many  ages,  they  are  still  young;  and 
afford  the  brightest  promise  for  their  future.  But  it  cannot  be,  as  it 
was  in  the  last  century,  a  future  of  somnolent  predominance.  Youthful 
and  active  companions  have  come  into  the  field,  to  extend  the  range 
of  culture,  and  to  insure  its  adaptation  to  modern  wants;  perhaps  also 
to  forbid  relapses  into  lethargy,  and  to  provide  a  fresh  access  of  material 
for  the  finishing  hand  to  work  on.  To  secure  their  position,  as  well  as 
to  attain  their  proper  ends,  the  nation  will  ask  from  her  ancient  and 
still  paramount  Universities  a  constant  increase  of  energetic  exertion. 
Doubtless  they  may  learn  one  from  the  other;  but  neither,  I  trust, 
will  ever  be  ashamed  of  its  distinctive  character,  which  has  been  main- 
tained through  the  vicissitudes  of  so  long  a  time.  We  have  each, 
whether  individuals  or  institutions,  to  recognize  the  determining  lines 
of  our  own  several  formations,  which  are  in  truth  conditions  essential 
for  turning  those  formations  to  the  best  account.  The  chief  dangers 
before  them  are  probably  two:  one  that  in  research,  considered  as  apart 
from  their  teaching  office,  they  should  relax  and  consequently  dwindle; 
the  other  that,  under  pressure  from  without,  they  should  lean,  if  ever 
so  little,  to  that  theory  of  education  which  would  have  it  to  construct 
machines  of  so  many  horse-power,  rather  than  to  form  character,  and  to 
rear  into  true  excellence  the  marvelous  creature  we  call  man;  which 
gloats  upon  success  in  life,  instead  of  studying  to  secure  that  the  man 
shall  ever  be  greater  than  his  work  and  never  bounded  by  it,  but  that 
his  eye  shall  boldly  run  (in  the  language  of  Wordsworth) — 

"Along  the  line  of  limitless  desires." 


CHAPTER  III. 
CHRISTCHURCH  COLLEGE,   OXFORD. 

At  one  time  in  his  career  it  was  strongly  suspected  that  Father 
Newman  had  so  influenced  Gladstone  that  he  was  likely  to  become  a 
Roman  Catholic.  Vast  as  were  the  differences  of  constitution,  the 
mighty  and  beautiful  spirit  of  Newman  was  sure  to  find  a  most  sym- 
pathetic echo  for  many  of  his  utterances  in  Gladstone.  This  much  is 
said  because  it  is  of  great  importance  in  the  estimate  of  Gladstone  that 
we  should  remember  how  much  and  how  little  Christchurch  College 
did  for  him,  and  also  how  much  and  how  little  the  subtle  and  charming 
personality  of  another  Oxford  College  did  for  him  through  Newman. 
Gladstone's  nature  was  churchly,  and  he  might  have  sung  with  Emer- 
son: 

I  like  a  monk;  I  like  a  cowl; 

I  love  a  prophet  of  the  soul; 

And  on  my  heart  monastic  aisles 

Fall  like  sweet  strains  or  pensive  smiles. 

Christchurch  College,  Oxford,  was  created  in  the  hour  when  medi- 
aeval Catholicism  found  itself  compelled  to  express  its  spirit  in  such  a 
foundation.  Cardinal  Wolsey's  princely  benefactions  came  from  his 
magnificence  and  ambition  at  the  time  when  he  was  master  of  England 
and  desirous  of  the  papal  tiara.  Goldwin  Smith  says  of  Christchurch 
College:  "Here  we  stand  on  the  point  of  transition  between  Catholic 
and  Protestant  England."  There  have  been  times  in  Gladstone's  life 
when  the  same  might  have  been  said,  and  was  said,  of  him.  Not  only 
did  Oxford  influence  him  by  its  scholasticism,  but  Christchurch  Col- 
lege, Oxford,  influenced  him  by  a  peculiarity  all  its  own.  Here,  before 
the  august  faqade  and  in  the  spacious  hall,  this  sensitive  and  religious 
youth  was  sympathetic  with  the  phases  of  churchmanship  persistent  in 
his  mind  and  affection  to  the  very  last.  The  reformation  which  swept 
over  Christchurch  College  has  never  taken  from  it  or  from  that  gallery  of 

39 


40  GLADSTONE:   A   BIOGRAPHICAL    STUDY. 

portraits  which  enriched  the  walls,  a  certain  monastic  quality  and  ten- 
dency of  piety  to  which  Gladstone  has  been  easily  reconciled.  The 
associations  here  were  as  fine  as  could  be  desired.  The  two  Chairs  of 
Greek  and  Latin  which  Fox  had  established  "to  extirpate  barbarism," 
gathered  around  themselves  classical  scholars  like  Liddell  and  Tait 
which  latter  was  to  be  the  future  Archbishop  of  Canterbury.  Here  were 
Sidney  Herbert  and  Sir  Francis  Doyle,  whose  reminiscences  of  Glad- 
stone and  of  those  times  are  so  entertaining  and  just;  here  was  Robert 
Lowe,  whose  influence  upon  Gladstone  at  that  time  has  been  too  little 
appreciated  and  whose  force  as  an  orator  and  skill  as  a  debater  Glad- 
stone later  on  acknowledged  in  a  most  charming  manner.  Writing  in 
1877  on  tne  County  Franchise,  he  says: 

"Mr.  Lowe  and  I  are,  in  some  respects,  not  ill  fitted  for  a  friendly  duel 
on  the  subject  of  the  representation  of  the  people  in  Parliament.  He  did 
not  confer,  and  I  did  not  inflict,  a  speech  on  the  House  of  Commons,  when 
the  subject  was  recently  under  discussion.  We  are  agreed,  as  I  believe,  on 
most  questions  of  politics,  indeed  rather  closely  agreed  on  some  important 
matters,  such  as  public  thrift,  in  which  few  agree  with  either  of  us ;  and  we 
are  united,  as  I  hope,  in  mutual  regard.  Moreover,  we  have  already,  many 
years  ago,  exhibited  opposite  leanings  upon  the  question  whether  the  gen- 
eral idea  of  extension  of  the  suffrage  is  one  which  ought  to  be  viewed  with 
favor,  or  the  reverse." 

He  seems  to  understand  Lowe's  value  and  his  limitations,  and  to 
have  felt  something  of  the  good  humor  of  those  early  times  in  the 
conclusion  of  his  argument,  when  he  says: 

"Let  me  not  then  be  too  sanguine,  and  let  Mr.  Lowe  abate  his  alarms. 
His  'excellent  principle,'  especially  when  mounted  upon  such  a  charger  as 
himself,  will  yet  do  service  in  the  field.  It  is  a  veteran  that  has  stood,  and 
will  stand,  much  battering.  It  may  be  long  before  the  country  is  able  to 
reckon  with  it,  and  the  reckoning,  when  it  does  come,  will  be  but  mild.  Do 
not  then  let  it  exasperate  the  nation,  by  an  obstinate  withholding  of  the 
County  Franchise  from  that  moiety  of  our  householders  which  is  not  the 
least  qualified  to  use  it  innocently  and  well.  This  in  the  meantime,  with 
good  measure  for  the  cheapening  of  elections,  will  be  a  great  and  signal 
boon.  And  we  shall  lie  at  the  foot  of  the  precipice,  as  we  now  stand  at  the 
top,  in  perfect  comfort.  And  our  Constitution,  'which  has  been  the  admira- 


CHRISTCHURCH   COLLEGE,   OXFORD.  41 

tion  of  the  world  for  five  hundred  years.'  Much,  when  all  these  matters  are 
settled,  will  have  been  done  to  invigorate  the  institutions  of  the  land,  to 
strengthen  the  national  cohesion,  to  increase  the  sum  total  of  the  public 
energies,  to  establish  confidence  between  class  and  class.,  to  train  the  people 
for  the  habitual,  hereditary  discharge  of  public  duty.  But  I  am  sorry  that 
my  harp,  like  the  harp  'in  Tara's  hall,'  must  yet,  amidst  all  this  prospective 
joy,  be  again  'tuned  to  notes  of  sadness.'  We  shall  not  have  landed  in 
Utopia.  Some  new  leaks  will  open  where  old  ones  have  been  stopped. 
That  ancient  trio,  the  world,  the  flesh,  and  the  devil,  will  be  too  strong  for 
even  an  approach  to  the  abstract  standard  of  a  polity.  The  public,  a  fine 
animal,  is  strong  but  sleepy.  When  he  gets  active,  he  gets  tired ;  they  tell 
him  he  has  been  excited,  and  it  has  been  bad  for  his  health;  he  lays  his 
head  upon  his  pillow ;  but  the  interests,  ever  so  anxious  lest  he  should  hurt 
himself  by  over-exertion,  ever  wakeful,  ever  nimble,  ever  'redeeming  the 
time,'  that  is  to  say,  selling  it  in  the  best  market — they  settle  to  while  he  is 
asleep,  and  make  a  night  of  it.  There  will  always  be  scandals  to  make  us 
humble,  and  faults  and  wants  crying  aloud  to  make  us  diligent;  but  politi- 
cal progress,  if  intermittent  and  qualified,  has  on  the  whole  been  practical 
and  real,  and  such,  in  this  land  of  ours,  may  it  ever  be." 

But  we  will  come  in  closer  proximity  to  Lowe  by  awaiting  a  greater 
day  for  Gladstone.  Here  also  he  knew  Robert  Scott,  Lord  Elgin,  Lord 
Douglas;  but  the  two  men  who  most  influenced  him  then  and  in  after 
life,  with  whom  he  came  into  sharp  controversy,  yet  to  whose  friendship 
he  always  paid  affectionate  devotion,  were  Henry  Edward  Manning, 
aftenvards  Cardinal  Archbishop  of  Westminster,  and  George  Cornewall 
Lewis,  who  was  Gladstone's  successor  as  Chancellor  of  the  Exchequer. 

In  the  "Life  of  Cardinal  Manning,"  by  Mr.  Purcell,  we  get  several 
sights  of  Mr.  Gladstone  which  tenderly  and  powerfully  relate  them- 
selves to  these  early  days.  Manning  was  in  the  habit  of  saying:  "Mr. 
Gladstone's  geese  are  all  swans,"  and  thus  he  paid  a  tribute  to  that 
opulent  imagination  and  extreme  generosity  which  in  Gladstone's 
early  youth  enabled  him  to  see  much  more  in  some  boys  than  one  less 
highly  gifted  might  discover.  Mr.  Gladstone  says  of  Manning: 

"On  our  leaving  Oxford  we  naturally  lost  sight  of  each  other;  Man- 
ning went  down  into  the  country  in  charge  of  a  small  parish  and  I  lived 
in  London  following  political  pursuits  and  finishing  my  education — at 
least  as  regards  foreign  languages  and  literature.  It  was  only  several 


42  GLADSTONE:   A   BIOGRAPHICAL    STUDY. 

years  later  that  I  met  Manning  by  accident.  It  was  on  the  occasion 
of  a  great  meeting  in  1835  or  1836,  I  think,  called  by  Archbishop  How- 
ley — a  revered  man — in  connection  with  the  Christian  Knowledge  So- 
ciety. The  extreme  section  of  the  Evangelicals  had  been  getting  too 
much  the  upper  hand,  and  the  object  of  the  meeting  was  to  put  restraint 
on  their  action.  I  was  walking  with  the  Lord  Cholmondeley,  a  leading 
man  among  the  Evangelicals  but  not  a  factionist,  on  our  way  to  the 
meeting  with  the  view  of  supporting  the  Archbishop,  when,  in  turning 
out  of  Queen  Street  into  Lincoln's  Inn  Fields,  we  rubbed  shoulders  with 
Manning.  After  a  friendly  interchange  of  greetings  and  questionings, 
I  asked  Manning  what  had  brought  him,  a  country  clergyman,  up  to 
town.  'To  defend,'  was  his  answer,  'the  Evangelical  cause  against  the 
attempts  of  the  Archbishop.'  That  shows,"  added  Mr.  Gladstone, 
"that  Manning  belonged  at  that  time  to  the  section  of  the  extreme 
Evangelicals." — (Purcell's  Biography  I,  372.) 

The  biographer  himself  adds,  on  page  97  of  the  first  volume  of  this 
excellent  work: 

"In  Manning's  letter  to  his  brother  or  to  his  father  and  mother, 
perhaps  very  naturally,  not  the  remotest  hint  is  given  that  the  sight 
of  an  apron  and  shovel  hat  provoked  him  to  laughter,  or  that  the  little 
'Father  in  God'  moved  him  to  anger.  But  it  is  more  strange  that  not 
a  trace  of  this  contemptuous  aversion  to  the  outward  honors  and  dig- 
nity of  an  Anglican  bishop  is  to  be  found  in  contemporary  evidence. 
Far  from  exhibiting  such  aversion,  Mr.  Gladstone  says: — 'Manning  was 
always  most  loyal  to  the  Church,  and  spoke  of  its  bishops  with  great 
reverence.  I  remember  on  the  occasion  of  an  address  of  sympathy 
being  presented  to  Archbishop  Howley,  Manning  spoke  of  the  Arch- 
bishop of  Canterbury  as  being  the  head  of  the  Church.'  Some  de- 
murred to  the  use  of  the  term  'Head.'  'But/  added  Mr.  Gladstone, 
laughing,  'head  is  a  very  elastic  word.'  Then  he  suggested  as  an  ex- 
planation, 'that  Manning,  who  was  always  very  ascetic,  might  have  ob- 
jected to  bishops  on  account  of  their  wealth  and  pomp." 

Surely  one  of  these  remarks  is  quite  Gladstonian,  and  indicates 
the  agility  of  Gladstone's  mind  quite  as  much  as  the  force  and  clearness 
of  the  great  Cardinal's  mind  are  indicated  by  the  statement  which  the 


CHRISTCHURCH  COLLEGE,  OXFORD.  43 

latter  laid  down  to  Mr.  Gladstone  in  a  private  letter  which  recalls 
these  very  Oxford  days.  The  Cardinal  said  "The  last  act  of  Reason  is 
the  first  act  of  Faith." 

A  noted  biographer  aptly  remarks  that  there  was  an  absolute  neces- 
sity, for  the  sake  of  historical  fitness,  that  the  youth  Gladstone  should 
have  been  sent  to  Oxford.  "The  entire  atmosphere  of  the  place,  steeped 
in  its  peculiar  traditions  and  its  medievalism,  seemed  exactly  suited  to 
the  whole  temperament  and  genius  of  the  youthful  Gladstone."  In 
this  judgment  we  may  well  coincide  with,  and  pay  our  gratitude  to, 
Mr.  Justin  McCarthy  for  many  of  the  truest  and  most  interesting 
things  said  of  the  statesman  whose  career  has  swept  his  own  into  the 
more  powerful  stream. 

Mr.  Walter  Bagehot,  from  whom  much  else  might  be  quoted,  wrote 
with  his  usual  acuteness,  concerning  the  extraordinary  and  peculiar 
influence  which  Oxford  had  upon  Mr.  Gladstone's  career.  Bagehot 
says,  speaking  of  a  later  date: 

"During  the  discussion  on  the  Budget,  an  old  Whig  who  did  not 
approve  of  it,  but  who  had  to  vote  for  it,  muttered  of  its  author,  'Ah, 
Oxford  on  the  surface,  but  Liverpool  below.'  And  there  is  truth  in 
the  observation,  though  not  in  the  splenetic  sense  in  which  it  was  ut- 
tered. Mr.  Gladstone  does  combine,  in  a  very  curious  way,  many  of 
the  characteristics  which  we  generally  associate  with  the  place  of  his 
education  and  many  of  those  which  we  usually  connect  with  the  place  of 
his  birth.  No  one  can  question  the  first  part  of  the  observation.  No 
man  has  through  life  been  more  markedly  an  Oxford  man  than  Mr. 
Gladstone.  His  'Church  and  State/  published  after  he  had  been  sev- 
eral years  in  public  life,  was  instinct  with  the  very  spirit  of  the  Oxford  of 
that  time.  His  'Homer,'  published  the  other  day,  bears  nearly  equal 
traces  of  the  school  in  which  he  was  educated.  Even  in  his  ordinary 
style  there  is  a  tinge  of  half  theological,  half  classical,  which  recalls 
the  studies  of  his  youth.  Many  Oxford  men  much  object  to  the  opin- 
ions of  their  distinguished  representative,  but  none  of  them  would 
deny  that  he  remarkably  embodies  the  result  of  the  peculiar  teaching 
of  the  place." 

Mr.  Augustine  Birrell,  in  his  vigorous  essay  on  Truth  Hunting, 


44  GLADSTONE:    A   BIOGRAPHICAL   STUDY. 

gives  another  light,  as  if  by  contrast,  in  which  we  may  view  Mr.  Glad- 
stone. As  he  compares  him  with  that  other  Oxonian  who  so  charmed 
and  attracted  all  young  men  of  genius  in  his  time,  John  Henry  New- 
man, Mr.  Birrell  says: 

"Where  is  the  actuary  who  can  appraise  the  value  of  a  man's  opin- 
ions? 'When  we  speak  of  a  man's  opinions,'  says  Dr.  Newman,  'what 
do  we  mean  but  the  collection  of  notions  he  happens  to  have?'  Hap- 
pens to  have!  How  did  he  come  by  them?  It  is  the  knowledge  we  all 
possess  of  the  sorts  of  ways  in  which  men  get  their  opinions  that  makes 
us  so  little  affected  in  our  own  minds  by  those  of  men  for  whose  char- 
acters and  intellects  we  may  have  great  admiration.  A  sturdy  Non- 
conformist minister,  who  thinks  Mr.  Gladstone  the  ablest  and  most 
honest  man,  as  well  as  the  ripest  scholar  within  the  three  kingdoms,  is 
no  whit  shaken  in  his  Nonconformity  by  knowing  that  his  idol  has 
written  in  defense  of  the  Apostolical  Succession,  and  believes  in  special 
sacramental  graces.  Mr.  Gladstone  may  have  been  a  great  student 
of  church  history,  whilst  Nonconformist  reading  under  that  head 
usually  begins  with  Luther's  Theses — but  what  of  that?  Is  it  not  all 
explained  by  the  fact  that  Mr.  Gladstone  was  at  Oxford  in  1831?  So 
at  least  the  Nonconformist  minister  will  think." 

These  are  interesting  bits  of  criticism,  and  may  help  us  to  some 
clearer  understanding  of  the  really  great  man  with  whom  we  have  to 
deal.  Mr.  Bagehot  used  to  say:  "England  must  comprehend  Mr. 
Gladstone,"  for  every  bright  man  saw,  many  years  ago,  how  forceful  was 
the  intellect,  and  how  valuable  might  be  the  services  of  such  a  man.  It 
is  scarcely  to  be  doubted  that  such  a  youth  as  George  Cornewall  Lewis, 
standing  side  by  side  with  Gladstone  in  the  Oxford  days,  accentuated 
likeness  and  unlikeness,  as  in  their  later  careers  it  was  almost  impossible 
to  feel  that  there  could  be  a  more  interesting  biographical  and  psycho- 
logical study  than  the  attitude  and  manner  of  thought  with  reference 
to  the  age  and  its  problems,  furnished  by  these  two  men.  If  Lewis' 
memory  was  called  dry,  Gladstone's  memory  was  dewy  and  as  full  of 
lively  sap  as  a  beechen  tree  on  a  spring  morning.  If  Lewis  had  not  the 
power  to  exaggerate  which  belongs  to  public  opinion,  Gladstone  could 
meet  popular  opinion  and  tell  it  on  Monday  night  how  much  more  ex- 


CHRISTCHURCH   COLLEGE,   OXFORD.  45 

aggerated  it  would  be  next  morning.  Both  men  could  flood  a  subject 
with  unsuspected  streams  of  light,  but  Gladstone's  light  has  never  been 
dry  light;  Sir  George  Lewis'  information  was  often  so  dry  as  to  be  in 
peril  of  spontaneous  combustion;  Gladstone's  vast  stores  of  knowledge 
had  been  vitalized  by  omnipresent  imagination.  Oxford  may  have 
made  Lewis  less  enthusiastic,  and  added  a  touch  of  sadness  to  his  native 
indifference;  but  Gladstone's  interest  in  everything  worthy  of  a  man, — 
indeed,  his  interest  in  a  good  many  things  unworthy  of  so  great  a  man, 
— has  never  flagged,  and  it  did  not  feel  a  shock  of  opposition  at  the 
Oxford  which  has  made  so  many  promising  men  apathetic.  There  has 
been  nothing  cynical  in  Mr.  Gladstone,  and  his  almost  imperial  serious- 
ness is  never  sad.  If  such  a  man  as  Lewis  was  strongest  in  judgment, 
his  young  friend  Gladstone  was  sure  to  be  strongest  in  impulse  for  great 
statesmanship.  Gladstone  was  sure  never  to  be  puzzled  by  the  passions 
of  mankind.  Within  his  own  soul  these  forces,  unknown  in  their  might 
and  majesty  to  other  men,  have  swept  and  stormed  and  been  subdued 
into  calm.  Oxford  may  have  taught  Mr.  Gladstone  a  scholastic  method 
and  filled  him  with  a  speculative  audacity  such  as  have  been  balanced 
only  by  his  intense  zeal,  his  practical  human  brotherliness,  and  his 
merchant-like  demand  for  results;  but  all  these  have  been  suffused  and 
irradiated,  and,  indeed,  led  to  triumphant  achievements,  oftentimes  re- 
luctantly, but  nevertheless  steadily,  by  an  imagination  which  Oxford 
could  not  entirely  devote  or  pledge  to  ecclesiasticism,  and  which,  like 
the  imagination  of  a  great  scientist,  has  always  been  ardent  with  the 
genius  of  discovery.  Only  a  youth  such  as  he  who  afterwards  became 
Sir  George  Lewis  was  likely  to  influence  strongly  a  man  who,  possessing 
the  courage  which  afterwards  would  withstand  public  opinion,  as  did 
Lewis,  also  might  lead  and  utter  the  deepest  sentiments  of  the  public,  as 
Lewis  never  could,  and  as  Gladstone  has  done. 

The  flexibility  of  this  youth,  whose  character  we  are  now  to  study 
more  at  length,  which  was  sure  to  give  him  the  problems  and  prizes 
which  come  to  a  great  orator,  was  matched  by  devotion  to  the  solid 
qualities  of  scholarship,  earnest  thinking,  and  careful  research.  Glad- 
stone became  master  of  that  high  logic  which  does  not  down  before 
two  aspects  of  one  truth.  Oxford  and  Us  associations  could  not  harm 


46  GLADSTONE:   A   BIOGRAPHICAL    STUDY. 

this.  Le\vis  might  not  be  able  to  "take  a  test  without  qualification/' 
but  Gladstone  would  be  able  to  approve  the  consistency  of  two  ap- 
parently opposing  principles.  In  their  youth  it  was  the  fortune  or  fate 
of  Oxford  to  emphasize  in  each  of  these  men  his  most  evident  weakness, 
as  well  as  to  nurture  his  most  valuable  powers. 

Speaking  of  his  Oxford  days,  Gladstone's  own  account  furnishes  the 
best  account  of  the  state  of  atmosphere  religiously  and  politically.  He 
says,  writing  in  1848: 

"Of  this  great  renovating  movement,  a  large  part  centered  in  Ox- 
ford. At  the  time,  indeed,  when  I  resided  there,  from  1828  to  1831,  no 
sign  of  it  had  yet  appeared.  A  steady,  clear,  but  dry  Anglican  ortho- 
doxy bore  sway;  and  frowned,  this  way  or  that,  on  the  first  indication 
of  any  tendency  to  diverge  from  the  beaten  path.  Dr.  Pusey  was,  at 
that  time,  revered,  indeed,  for  his  piety  and  charity,  no  less  than  ad- 
mired for  his  learning  and  talents,  but  suspected  (I  believe)  of  sympathy 
with  the  German  theology,  in  which  he  was  known  to  be  profoundly 
versed.  Dr.  Newman  was  thought  to  have  about  him  the  flavor  of 
what,  he  has  now  told  the  world,  were  the  opinions  he  had  derived  in 
youth  from  the  works  of  Thomas  Scott.  Mr.  Keble,  the  'sweet  singer 
of  Israel,'  and  a  true  saint,  if  this  generation  has  seen  one,  did  not 
reside  in  Oxford.  The  chief  Chair  of  Theology  had  been  occupied  by 
Bishop  Lloyd,  the  old  tutor,  and  the  attached  and  intimate  friend,  of 
Peel;  a  man  of  powerful  talents,  and  of  a  character  both  winning  and 
decided,  who,  had  his  life  been  spared,  might  have  modified  essentially 
for  good  the  fortunes  of  the  Church  of  England,  by  guiding  the  ener- 
getic influences  which  his  teaching  had  done  much  to  form.  But  he  had 
been  hurried  away  in  1829  by  early  death;  and  Dr.  Whately,  who  was 
also  in  his  own  way,  a  known  power  in  the  University,  was  in  1830  in- 
duced to  accept  the  Archbishopric  of  Dublin.  There  was  nothing,  at 
that  time,  in  the  theology,  or  in  the  religious  life,  of  the  University  to 
indicate  what  was  soon  to  come. 

"But  when,  shortly  afterwards,  the  great  heart  of  England  began 
to  beat  with  the  quickened  pulsations  of  a  more  energetic  religious  life, 
it  was  in  Oxford  that  the  stroke  was  most  distinct  and  loud.  An  extraor- 
dinary change  appeared  to  pass  upon  the  spirit  of  the  place.  I  be- 


CHRISTCHURCH  COLLEGE,  OXFORD.  47 

lieve  it  would  be  a  moderate  estimate  to  say  that  much  beyond  one 
half  of  the  very  flower  of  its  youth  chose  the  profession  of  Holy  Orders; 
while  an  impression,  scarcely  less  deep,  seemed  to  be  stamped  upon 
a  large  portion  of  its  lay  pupils.  I  doubt  whether  at  any  period  of  its 
existence,  either  since  the  Reformation,  or  perhaps  before  it,  the  Church 
of  England  had  reaped  from  either  University,  in  so  short  a  time,  so 
rich  a  harvest.  At  Cambridge  a  similar  lifting  up  of  heart  and  mind 
seems  to  have  been  going  on;  and  numbers  of  persons  of  my  own 
generation,  who  at  their  public  schools  had  been  careless  and  thought- 
less like  the  rest,  appeared  in  their  early  manhood  as  soldiers  of  Christ, 
and  ministers  to  the  wants  of  His  people,  worthy,  I  believe,  as  far  as 
man  can  be  worthy,  through  their  zeal,  devotion,  powers  of  mind,  and 
attainments,  of  their  high  vocation. 

"It  was  not  then  foreseen  what  storms  were  about  to  rise.  Not 
only  in  Oxford,  but  in  England,  during  the  years  to  which  I  refer, 
party  spirit  within  the  Church  was  reduced  to  a  low  ebb.  Indiscretions 
there  might  be,  but  authority  did  not  take  alarm;  it  smiled  rather,  on 
the  contrary,  on  what  was  thought  to  be  in  the  main  a  recurrence  both 
to  first  principles  and  to  forgotten  obligations.  Purity,  unity,  and 
energy  seemed,  as  three  fair  sisters  hand  in  hand,  to  advance  together. 
Such  a  state  of  things  was  eminently  suited  to  act  on  impressible  and 
sanguine  minds.  I,  for  one,  formed  a  completely  false  estimate  of  what 
was  about  to  happen,  and  believed  that  the  Church  of  England, 
through  the  medium  of  a  regenerated  clergy  and  an  intelligent  and 
attached  laity,  would  not  only  hold  her  ground,  but  would  even  in  great 
part  probably  revive  the  love  and  the  allegiance  both  of  the  masses  who 
were  wholly  falling  away  from  religious  observances,  and  of  those  large 
and  powerful  nonconforming  bodies,  the  existence  of  which  was  sup- 
posed to  have  no  other  cause  than  the  neglect  of  its  duties  by  the 
National  Church,  which  had  long  left  the  people  as  sheep  without  a 
shepherd. 

"And  surely  it  would  have  required  either  a  deeply  saturnine  or  a 
marvelously  prophetic  mind  to  foretell  that,  in  ten  or  twelve  more 
years,  that  powerful  and  distinguished  generation  of  clergy  would  be 
broken  up;  that  at  least  a  moiety  of  the  most  gifted  sons,  whom  Oxford 


48  GLADSTONE:   A  BIOGRAPHICAL    STUDY. 

had  reared  for  the  service  of  the  Church  of  England,  would  be  hurling 
at  her  head  the  hottest  bolts  of  the  Vatican:  that,  with  their  deviation 
on  the  one  side,  there  would  arise  a  not  less  convulsive  rationalistic 
movement  on  the  other;  and  that  the  natural  consequences  would  be 
developed  in  endless  contention  and  estrangement,  and  in  suspicions 
worse  than  either,  because  even  less  accessible,  and  even  more  intract- 
able. Since  that  time,  the  Church  of  England  may  be  said  to  have  bled 
at  every  pore;  and  at  this  hour  it  seems  occasionally  to  quiver  to  its 
very  base.  And  yet,  all  the  while,  the  religious  life  throbs  more  and 
more  powerfully  within  her.  Shorn  of  what  may  be  called  the  romance 
and  poetry  of  her  revival,  she  abates  nothing  of  her  toil;  and  in  the 
midst  of  every  .sort  of  partial  indiscretion  and  extravagance,  her  great 
office  in  the  care  of  souls  is,  from  year  to  year,  less  and  less  imperfectly 
discharged.  But  the  idea  of  asserting  on  her  part  those  exclusive 
claims,  which  become  positively  unjust  in  a  divided  country  governed 
on  popular  principles,  has  been  abandoned  by  all  parties  in  the  State." 


DANIEL  O'CONNELL 


CHAPTER  IV. 
THE    OXFORD    STUDENT. 

Gladstone's  career  at  Oxford  was  worthy  of  his  name  and  the  fame 
of  his  after  life.  He  was  an  enthusiastic  and  painstaking  student,  and 
his  reading  embraced  almost  every  realm  of  literature  into  which  he 
afterwards  went  with  graceful  ease  and  distinguished  power.  Perhaps 
this  was  the  time  when  he  dwelt  most  joyously  with  the  poets,  and 
realized  for  himself,  in  short  vacations,  something  of  the  Arcadian 
existence  of  which  they  sang.  His  conduct  was  above  reproach,  and, 
indeed,  his  influence  at  Oxford  was  exalting  and  regenerating  in  the 
highest  degree.  Lord  Houghton,  who  visited  Oxford  in  1829,  after- 
wards wrote: 

"The  man  that  took  me  was  the  youngest  Gladstone  of  Liverpool — 
I  am  sure  a  very  superior  person."  He  was  inalterably  opposed  to  the 
riotous  conduct  of  certain  undergraduates  whose  wanton  excesses  and 
brutality  caused  the  death  of  one  of  their  number  in  1831;  and  that 
portion  of  American  youth  whose  proper  sphere  is  in  the  shambles 
rather  than  in  the  company  of  college  gentlemen,  may  derive  a  salutary 
lesson  from  Gladstone's  decorous  and  sensible  university  career. 

Whatever  we  may  think  of  modern  systems  of  education,  and  of 
the  policy  of  relegating  the  classics  to  the  rear,  in  order  that  what  are 
called  "practical  studies"  may  come  to  the  front,  Gladstone's  career 
furnishes  indubitable  evidence  that  such  a  mind  as  his  can  scarcely 
be  expected  to  perform  its  work  in  the  world  without  the  exacting  and 
stimulating  culture  which  these  studies  offered.  He  was  deeply  inter- 
ested in  the  life  of  Greece  and  Rome  as  they  were  expressed  in  their 
literatures.  Even  then  he  was  a  book-lover  in  the  best  sense,  and 
began  to  form  his  collection  of  the  finest  editions  of  the  classics.  First 
editions  of  modern  authors,  "with  the  author's  compliments,"  were  to 
cover  his  tables  in  due  time.  Every  subject  allied  itself  with  every  other 
4  49 


50  GLADSTONE:   A   BIOGRAPHICAL    STUDY. 

subject,  so  that  his  reading  took  him  beyond  the  established  courses 
of  study,  and  it  was  soon  understood  that  Gladstone  possessed  an 
amount  of  information  of  which  no  other  student  could  boast.  To  have 
heard  him  when  he  presented  a  Budget  before  the  House  of  Commons, 
dealing  with  statistics  and  figures  with  unsurpassed  art  and  charm, 
made  one  readily  believe  that  he  enjoyed  the  contest  in  which  he 
engaged  as  a  student  at  Oxford  for  a  "double  first,"  exacting  from 
himself  the  incessant  labors  required  to  secure  the  prize  in  classics  and 
the  honors  in  mathematics. 

Perhaps  to  the  cursory  view  Gladstone  would  have  seemed  over- 
religious  and  slightly  feminine  in  the  cast  of  his  mind.  Certain  it  is 
that  a  friend  and  companion,  writing  in  1829,  regrets  that  "Gladstone 
has  mixed  himself  up  so  much  as  he  has  done  with  the  St.  Mary's  Hall 
and  Oriel  set,  who  are  really,  for  the  most  part,  only  fit  to  live  with 
maiden  aunts  and  keep  tame  rabbits."  These  were  the  men  soon  to  be 
bound  by  the  spell  of  John  Henry  Newman.  His  masculine  quality  of 
mind  saved  him,  and  he  even  then  looked  at  life  with  full-hearted  and 
muscular  faith.  Speaking  many  years  later,  he  appears  as  that  same 
young  man  grown  none  the  less  believing  because  of  years.  He  says: 

"Life  is  still  as  full  of  deep,  of  varied,  of  ecstatic,  of  harrowing  in- 
terests as  it  ever  was.  The  heart  of  man  still  beats  and  bounds,  exults 
and  suffers,  from  causes  which  are  only  less  salient  and  conspicuous, 
because  they  are  more  mixed  and  diversified.  It  still  undergoes  every 
phase  of  emotion,  and  even,  as  seems  probable,  with  a  susceptibility 
which  has  increased  and  is  increasing,  and  which  has  its  index  and 
outer  form  in  the  growing  delicacy  and  complexities  of  the  nervous 
system.  Does  any  one  believe  that  ever  at  any  time  rhere  was  a 
greater  number  of  deaths  referable  to  that  comprehensive  cause,  a 
broken  heart?  Let  none  fear  that  this  age,  or  any  coming  one,  will 
extirpate  the  material  of  poetry.  The  more  reasonable  apprehension 
might  be  lest  it  should  sap  the  vital  force  necessary  to  handle  that 
material,  and  mould  it  into  appropriate  forms." 

Mr.  Gladstone  has  indeed  never  disdained  the  proper  enjoyment 
of  life's  full  stream  of  pleasure.  He  posed  not  as  a  pale  ascetic.  He 
could  afterwards  fully  appreciate  Lord  Macaulay's  love  of  innocent 


THE    OXFORD    STUDENT.  51 

festivities,  for  he  did  not  then  refuse  to  sip  from  a  glass  of  wine  or 
divide  a  well-cooked  bird  with  his  friends.  He  appears  to  be  talking 
of  himself,  when,  nearly  half  a  century  after  this  date,  he  writes  of  the 
essayist  and  historian: 

"Macaulay  was  singularly  free  of  vices,  and  not  in  the  sense  in 
which,  according  to  Swift's  note  on  Burnet,  William  III.  held  such  a 
freedom;  that  is  to  say,  'as  a  man  is  free  of  a  corporation.'  One  point 
only  we  reverse — an  occasional  tinge  of  at  least  literary  vindictiveness. 
\Yas  he  envious?  Never.  Was  he  servile?  No.  Was  he  insolent? 
No.  Was  he  selfish?  No.  Was  he  prodigal?  No.  Was  he  avaricious? 
No.  Was  he  idle?  The  question  is  ridiculous.  Was  he  false?  No;  but 
true  as  steel,  and  transparent  as  crystal.  Was  he  vain?  We  hold  that 
he  was  not.  At  every  point  in  the  ugly  list  he  stands  the  trial;  and 
though  in  his  history  he  judges  mildly  some  sins  of  appetite  or  passion, 
there  is  no  sign  in  his  life,  or  his  remembered  character,  that  he  was 
compounding  for  what  he  was  inclined  to. 

"The  most  disputable  of  the  negatives  we  have  pronounced  is  that 
which  relates  to  vanity;  a  defect  rather  than  a  vice;  never  admitted  into 
the  septenary  catalogue  of  the  mortal  sins  of  Dante  and  the  Church; 
often  lodged  by  the  side  of  high  and  strict  virtue,  often  allied  with  an 
amiable  and  playful  innocence;  a  token  of  perfection,  a  deduction  from 
greatness;  and  no  more.  For  this  imputation  on  Macaulay  there  are 
apparent,  but,  as  we  think,  only  apparent,  grounds. 

"His  moderation  in  luxuries  and  pleasures  is  the  more  notable  and 
praiseworthy  because  he  was  a  man  who,  with  extreme  healthiness  of 
faculty,  enjoyed  keenly  what  he  enjoyed  at  all.  Take  in  proof  the  fol- 
lowing hearty  notice  of  a  dinner  a  quattr*  occhi  to  his  friend:  'Ellis 
came  to  dinner  at  seven.  I  gave  him  a  lobster-curry,  woodcock,  and 
macaroni.  I  think  that  I  will  note  dinners,  as  honest  Pepys  did/  " 

Such  also  was  the  young  and  full-blooded  son  of  Sir  John  Glad- 
stone. 

An  essay-society  was  constituted,  called  the  W.  E.  G.,  and  the 
young  man  now  presented  one  of  his  first  studies  upon  the  literature 
and  philosophy  of  Greece,  namely,  a  disquisition  on  Socrates'  belief  in 
immortality.  The  Oxford  Union  at  length  took  most  of  his  time  for 


52  GLADSTONE:  A  BIOGRAPHICAL   STUDY. 

these  exercises,  and  he  thus  united  himself  with  an  historical  society 
which,  as  much  as  any  institution  in  Oxford,  has  stimulated  literary 
productiveness  and  enthusiasm  in  England.  Within  its  walls,  bishops, 
prime-ministers,  historians,  essayists,  poets,  and  orators  have  been 
trained,  as  in  almost  no  other  similar  society's  meeting-place  in  the 
educational  world.  On  the  3Oth  of  February,  he  delivered  his  maiden 
speech  there,  at  which  time  the  young  orator  established  a  reputation 
which  led  his  friends,  from  that  moment  on,  to  anticipate  for  him  a 
remarkable  career  as  an  orator.  It  is  interesting  in  this  speech  to  note 
his  rather  stern  opposition  to  the  removal  of  Jewish  Disabilities.  Years 
after,  his  chief  antagonist,  whom  Gladstone  always  held  in  high 
admiration,  and  to  whom  he  showed  every  personal  kindness,  was  the 
Jew,  Benjamin  Disraeli,  and  Gladstone  himself  ably  defended  the 
policy  of  admitting  Jews  to  Parliament.  Perhaps  his  greatest  success 
as  a  young  orator,  namely,  the  speech  against  the  Whig  Reform  Bill, 
was  even  better  than  his  pious  fulminations  against  the  removal  of 
Jewish  Disabilities,  and  it  will  show  the  point  of  view  then  held  by  this 
promising  youth,  and  the  glorious  journey  which  lay  before  him  ere 
he  should  reach  the  hour  when  Disraeli's  Ministry  should  be  compelled 
to  adopt  Household  Suffrage,  and  when  he  would  see  the  electoral 
power  of  the  English  people  safely  confided  to  populations  whose 
every  existence,  at  that  time,  he  could  scarce  contemplate  without  a 
tremor.  Gladstone  was  at  this  time,  as  he  afterwards  acknowledged, 
under  the  spell  of  his  father's  great  friend,  George  Canning.  Years 
afterward  he  wrote  of  Canning: 

"It  is  for  those  who  revered  him  in  the  plenitude  of  his  meridian 
glory  to  mourn  over  him  in  the  darkness  of  his  premature  extinction; 
to  mourn  over  the  hopes  that  are  buried  in  his  grave,  and  the  evils  that 
arise  from  his  withdrawing  from  the  scene  of  life.  Surely  if  eloquence 
never  excelled  and  seldom  equalled — if  an  expanded  mind  and  judg- 
ment whose  vigor  was  paralleled  only  by  its  soundness — if  brilliant  wit 
— if  a  glowing  imagination — if  a  warm  heart,  and  an  unbending  firm- 
ness— could  have  strengthened  the  frail  tenure,  and  prolonged  the 
momentary  duration  of  human  existence,  that  man  had  been  immortal! 
But  nature  could  endure  no  longer.  Thus  has  Providence  ordained 


THE    OXFORD    STUDENT.  53 

that  inasmuch  as  the  intellect  is  more  brilliant,  it  shall  be  more  short- 
lived; as  its  sphere  is  more  expanded,  more  swiftly  is  it  summoned 
away.  Lest  we  should  give  the  man  honor  due  to  God — lest  we  should 
exalt  the  object  of  our  admiration  into  a  divinity  for  our  worship — He 
who  calls  the  weary  and  the  mourner  to  eternal  rest  hath  been  pleased 
to  remove  him  from  our  eyes." 

One  thing  that  Canning  said,  Gladstone  did  not  forget  and  the 
advice  served  him  often:  "Give  plenty  of  time  to  your  verses.  Every 
good  copy  you  do  will  set  in  your  memory  some  poetical  thought  or 
some  well  turned  form  of  speech  which  you  will  find  useful  when  you 
speak  in  public." 

Young  Gladstone's  addresses  were  so  powerful  and  prophetic  that 
such  men  as  Bishop  Wordsworth  anticipated  that  Gladstone  would  one 
day  become  Premier  of  the  realm,  and  Arthur  Henry  Hallam,  rejoicing 
in  the  richness  of  his  friendship,  predicted  that  there  was  no  place  in  the 
Government  of  Great  Britain  which  he  might  not  some  day  adorn. 
He  could  hardly  breathe  any  other  air  at  Oxford  than  that  of  Toryism, 
for  Toryism  was  in  the  buildings,  overgrown  with  ivy,  and  it  dictated 
attitude  and  behavior  in  cloister  and  market-place. 

Sir  John  Gladstone  might  easily  content  himself,  as  he  reflected  that 
his  young  son  would  hear  nothing  there  which  would  lead  him  to 
trust  the  masses,  or  make  him  willing  to  teach  them  anything  but 
obedience  to  their  masters.  But  Sir  John  had  not  calculated  upon  the 
fact  that  his  son  had  been  blessed  by  a  mother  whose  more  plastic  and 
eager  nature  belonged  to  him,  and  that  the  world  into  which  his  boy 
was  to  go  was  full  of  ideas  to  which  Sir  John's  mind  was  a  stranger. 
He  doubtless  went  along  with  others  in  the  feeling  that  Sir  Robert 
Peel  had  been  rightly  deprived  of  his  seat  in  Oxford  University,  be- 
cause he  had  made  a  slight  concession  in  the  name  of  justice  to  the 
Catholics,  but  it  is  certain  that  there  lay  before  him  in  the  utterances 
and  person  of  John  Henry  Newman  a  series  of  arguments  which 
should  deeply  stir  his  nature,  and  command  his  reverence,  even  though 
he  could  not  go  with  Newman  to  the  Roman  Catholic  church. 

Another  rare  personality  soon  exercised  a  beneficent  influence  upon 


54  GLADSTONE:  A  BIOGRAPHICAL   STUDY. 

him  and  upon  Arthur  Henry  Hallam.  The  former  defended  Frederic 
Denison  Maurice,  while  in  disagreement  with  his  churchmanship. 

But  the  responsiveness  of  Gladstone's  mind  to  the  sincere  thinking 
of  differently  constituted  intellects,  the  ability  he  has  shown  to  appre- 
ciate even  an  antagonist's  point  of  view  and  the  unique  capacity  he 
has  shown  for  hospitably  entertaining  the  spirit  of  such  men  as  Mau- 
rice, without  fixing  himself  to  their  opinions,  have  often  made  proof 
of  themselves,  greatly  to  the  sweetening  of  otherwise  hopelessly  bitter 
waters  of  controversy.  He  might  have  said  of  Maurice  what  Maurice 
said  of  him:  He  "has  disappointed  me  more  than  I  like  to  confess,  but 
he  seems  to  be  an  excellent  and  really  wise  man."  After  all,  it  is  diffi- 
cult for  such  high  spirits  to  avoid  the  glory  of  character  which  is  in- 
tenser  than  that  of  creed. 

The  present  writer  cannot  forget  the  lively  sentiments  of  gratitude 
which  Mr.  Gladstone  indicated,  when  once,  at  eventide,  he  talked  at 
length  of  the  Broad-Church  movement  in  England,  its  strength  and 
weakness,  and  stopped  to  pay  a  warm  tribute  to  Frederic  Denison 
Maurice.  There  was  no  poem  of  Tennyson's,  among  the  latter's  slighter 
productions,  to  which  Gladstone  turned  for  biographical  interest,  with 
more  of  that  delicate  enthusiasm  which  expressed  itself  in  his  reading 
of  it  on  that  evening,  than  the  following: 

Come,  when  no  graver  cares  employ, 
Godfather,  come  and  see  your  boy: 

Your  presence  will  be  sun  in  winter, 
Making  the  little  one  leap  for  joy. 

For,  being  of  that  honest  few, 
Who  give  the  Fiend  himself  his  due, 

Should  eight-thousand  college-councils 
Thunder  "Anathema,"  friend  at  you ; 

Should  all  our  churchmen  foam  in  spite 
At  you,  so  careful  of  the  right, 

Yet  one  lay-hearth  would  give  you  welcome 
(Take  it  and  come)  to  the  Isle  of  Wight; 

Where,  far  from  noise  and  smoke  of  town, 
I  watch  the  twilight  falling  brown 

All  round  a  careless-order'd  garden 
Close  to  the  rklire  of  a  noble  do\vn. 


THE    OXFORD    STUDENT.  55 

You'll  have  no  scandal  while  you  dine, 
But  honest  talk  and  wholesome  wine, 

And  only  hear  the  magpie  gossip 
Garrulous  under  a  roof  of  pine : 

For  groves  of  pine  on  either  hand, 
To  break  the  blast  of  winter,  stand ; 

And  further  on,  the  hoary  Channel 
Tumbles  a  billow  on  chalk  and  sand; 

Where,  if  below  the  milky  steep 
Some  ship  of  battle  slowly  creep, 

And  on  thro'  zones  of  light  and  shadow 
Glimmer  away  to  the  lonely  deep, 

We  might  discuss  the  Northern  sin 
Which  made  a  selfish  war  begin; 

Dispute  the  claims,  arrange  the  chances; 
Emperor,  Ottoman,  which  shall  win: 

Or  whether  war's  avenging  rod 
Shall  lash  all  Europe  into  blood; 

Till  you  should  turn  to  dearer  matters, 
Dear  to  the  man  that  is  dear  to  God ; 

How  best  to  help  the  slender  store; 
How  mend  the  dwellings,  of  the  poor; 

How  gain  in  life,  as  life  advances, 
Valor  and  charity  more  and  more. 

This  was  written  in  January,  1854,  and,  by  this  time,  Tennyson  and 
Gladstone  had  discovered  the  value  of  that  bond  uniting  them  in  deep 
friendship.  Tennyson  has  happily  touched  upon  the  qualities  in 
Maurice  and  the  interests  of  his  life  and  thought  which  afterwards  did 
much  to  attach  Gladstone  to  the  valorous  man  and  teacher,  and  to 
liberalize  as  well  as  humanize  his  spirit. 

In  1875,  in  the  controversy  which  drew  from  him  the  famous  article, 
"Is  the  Church  of  England  Worth  Preserving?"  Mr.  Gladstone  said, 
speaking  of  the  folly  of  attempting  to  adjust  ecclesiastical  difficulties  in 
courts  of  law : 

"Unhappily  they  came  upon  a  country  little  conversant  with  theo- 
logical, historical,  or  ecclesiastical  science,  and  a  country  which  had  not 
been  used,  for  three  hundred  years,  with  the  rarest  exceptions,  to  raise 
these  questions  before  the  tribunals.  The  only  one  of  them  in  which 


56  GLADSTONE:   A   BIOGRAPHICAL    STUDY. 

I  have  taken  a  part  was  the  summary  proceeding  of  the  Council  of 
King's  College  against  Mr.  Maurice.  I  made  an  ineffectual  endeavor, 
with  the  support  of  Judge  Patteson  and  Sir  B.  Brodie,  and  the  approval 
of  Bishop  Blomfield,  to  check  what  seemed  to  me  the  unwise  and  ruth- 
less vehemence  of  the  majority  which  dismissed  that  gentleman  from 
his  office." 

Speaking  in  1878  of  Oxford,  Mr.  Gladstone  said: 

"I  trace  in  the  education  of  Oxford  of  my  own  time  one  great 
defect.  Perhaps  it  was  my  own  fault;  but  I  must  admit  that  I  did  not 
learn,  when  at  Oxford,  that  which  I  have  learned  since,  viz.,  to  set  a 
due  value  on  the  imperishable  and  the  inestimable  principles  of  human 
liberty." 

Surely  it  was  a  long  journey,  but  one  nobly  accomplished,  from 
his  point  of  view,  as  a  churchman,  when  he  left  his  University,  to  that 
point  of  view  occupied  by  him  when  he  wrote  the  following: 

"The  Gospel  gave  to  the  life  of  civilized  man  a  real  resurrection, 
and  its  second  birth  was  followed  by  its  second  youth.  This  rejuvenes- 
cence was  allotted  to  those  wonderful  centuries  which  popular  igno- 
rance confounded  with  the  Dark  Ages  properly  so  called — an  identifi- 
cation about  as  rational  as  if  we  were  to  compare  our  own  life  within 
the  womb  to  the  same  life  in  intelligent  though  early  childhood. 
Awakened  to  aspirations  at  once  fresh  and  ancient,  the  mind  of  man 
took  hold  of  the  venerable  ideas  bequeathed  to  us  by  the  Greeks  as  a 
precious  part  of  its  inheritance,  and  gave  them  again  to  the  light, 
appropriated  but  also  renewed.  The  old  materials  came  forth,  but 
not  alone;  for  the  types  which  human  genius  had  formerly  conceived 
were  now  submitted  to  the  transfiguring  action  of  a  law  from  on  high. 
Nature  herself  prompted  the  effort  to  bring  the  old  patterns  of  worldly 
excellence  and  greatness — or  rather  the  copies  of  those  patterns  still 
legible,  though  depraved,  and  still  rich  with  living  suggestion — into 
harmony  with  that  higher  Pattern,  once  seen  by  the  eyes  and  handled 
by  the  hands  of  men,  and  faithfully  delineated  in  the  Gospels  for  the 
profit  of  all  generations.  The  life  of  our  Savior,  in  its  external  aspect, 
was  that  of  a  teacher.  It  was,  in  principle,  a  model  for  all;  but  it  left 
space  and  scope  for  adaptations  to  the  lay  life  of  Christians  in  general, 


THE    OXFORD    STUDENT.  57 

such  as  those  by  whom  the  every-day  business  of  the  world  is  to  be 
carried  on.  It  remained  for  man  to  make  his  best  endeavor  to  exhibit 
the  great  model  on  its  terrestrial  side,  in  its  contact  with  the  world. 
Here  is  the  true  source  of  that  new  and  noble  Cycle  which  the  Middle 
Ages  have  handed  down  to  us  in  duality  of  form,  but  with  a  closely 
related  substance,  under  the  royal  scepters  of  Arthur  in  England  and  of 
Charlemagne  in  France." 

At  this  time  began  many  of  the  studies  to  which  Gladstone  gave 
much  of  labor,  thought  and  passionate  devotion  in  later  years.  His  loye 
of  Dante  and  the  completeness  of  the  statesman's  understanding  of 
the  far-away  poet  had  their  roots  in  the  soil  of  these  days,  and  much 
that  Gladstone  afterwards  said  in  exposition  of  the  Italian  poet  came 
to  him  in  those  years  when  he  looked  upon  Dante  as  a  great  theologian, 
such  as  Homer  was  to  Greece.  Years  after  he  expressed  an  opinion 
which  he  wrote  out  in  other  form,  in  1832: 

"Dante  might,  far  better  than  Milton,  be  compared  with  Homer; 
for  while  he  is  in  the  Purgatoria  and  Paradiso  far  more  heavenly  than 
Milton,  he  is  also  throughout  the  Divina  Commedia  truly  and  pro- 
foundly human.  He  is  incessantly  conversant  with  the  nature  and 
the  life  of  man ;  and  though  for  the  most  part  he  draws  us,  as  Flaxman 
has  drawn  him,  in  outline  only,  yet  by  the  strength  and  depth  of  his 
touch  he  has  produced  figures,  for  example  Francesca  and  Ugolino, 
that  have  as  largely  become  the  common  property  of  mankind,  if  not 
as  Achilles  and  Ulysses,  yet  as  Lear  and  Hamlet.  Still  the  theological 
basis,  and  the  extra-terrene  theater  of  Dante's  poem  remove  him  to 
a  great  distance  from  Homer,  from  whom  he  seems  to  have  derived 
little,  and  with  whom  we  may  therefore  feel  assured  he  could  have  been 
but  little  acquainted." 

It  was  fortunate  for  him  now  that  he  was  permitted  to  visit  Italy. 
He  there  entered  with  renewed  vigor  on  the  study  of  Dante,  mean- 
while writing  some  accounts,  such  as  the  following,  of  what  he  saw: 

"After  Etna,  the  temples  are  certainly  the  great  charm  and  at- 
traction of  Sicily.  I  do  not  know  whether  there  is  any  one  among 
them  which,  taken  alone,  exceeds  in  interest  and  beauty  that  of  Nep- 
tune at  Paestum;  but  they  have  the  advantage  of  number  and  variety, 


58  GLADSTONE:  A  BIOGRAPHICAL   STUDY. 

as  well  as  of  highly  interesting  positions.  At  Segesta  the  temple  is 
enthroned  in  a  perfect  mountain  solitude,  and  it  is  like  a  beautiful 
touch  of  its  religion,  so  stately,  so  entire;  while  around,  but  for  one 
solitary  house  of  the  keeper,  there  is  nothing,  absolutely  nothing,  to 
disturb  the  apparent  reign  of  silence  and  of  death.  At  Selinus,  the 
huge  fragments  on  the  plain  seem  to  make  an  eminence  themselves, 
and  they  listen  to  the  ever  young  and  unwearied  waves  which  almost 
wash  their  base,  and  mock  their  desolation  by  the  image  of  perpetual 
life  and  motion  they  present,  while  the  tone  of  their  heavy  fall  upon  the 
beach  well  accords  with  the  solemnity  of  the  scene.  At  Girgenti  the 
ridge  visible  to  the  mariner  from  afar  is  still  crowned  by  a  long  line  of 
fabrics,  presenting  to  the  eye  a  considerable  mass  and  regularity  of 
structure,  and  the  town  is  near  and  visible;  yet  that  town  is  so  entirely 
the  mere  phantom  of  its  former  glory  within  its  now  shrunken  limits, 
that  instead  of  disturbing  the  effect,  it  rather  seems  to  add  a  new  image 
and  enhance  it.  The  temples  enshrine  a  most  pure  and  salutary  prin- 
ciple of  art,  that  which  connects  grandeur  of  effect  with  simplicity 
of  detail;  and  retaining  their  beauty  and  their  dignity  in  their  decay, 
they  represent  the  great  man  when  fallen,  as  types  of  that  almost 
highest  of  human  qualities — silent,  yet  not  sullen,  endurance." 

Here  also  he  found  some  of  the  most  interesting  and  deeply  potent 
associations  of  his  life.  Together  with  friends  from  whom  he  was  not 
to  part  he  began  the  study  of  Virgil,  and  it  was  to  one  of  these  friends, 
many  years  after,  that  he  read  one  of  his  famous  essays  for  the  first 
time — the  essay  in  which  occurs  the  following  interesting  passage: 

"With  rare  exceptions,  the  reader  of  Virgil  finds  himself  utterly  at 
a  loss  to  see  at  any  point  the  soul  of  the  poet  reflected  in  his  work. 
We  cannot  tell,  amidst  the  splendid  phantasmagoria,  where  is  his  heart, 
where  lie  his  sympathies.  In  Homer  a  genial  spirit,  breathed  from 
the  poet  himself,  is  translucent  through  the  whole;  in  the  yEneid  we 
look  in  vain  almost  for  a  single  ray  of  it.  Again,  Virgil  lived  at  a  time 
when  the  prevailing  religion  had  lost  whatever  elements  of  real  influence 
that  of  Homer's  era  either  possessed  in  its  own  right,  or  inherited  from 
pristine  traditions.  It  was  undermined  at  once  by  philosophy  and  by 
licentiousness;  and  it  subsisted  only  as  a  machinery,  a  machinery  too, 


THE    OXFORD    STUDENT.  59 

already  terribly  discredited,  for  civil  ends.  Thus  he  lost  one  great 
element  of  truth  and  nature,  as  well  as  of  sublimity  and  pathos.  The 
extinction  of  liberty  utterly  deprived  him,  of  another.  Homer  saw 
before  him  both  a  religion  and  a  polity  young,  fresh,  and  vigorous; 
for  Virgil  both  were  practically  dead:  and  whatever  this  world  has 
of  true  greatness  is  so  closely  dependent  upon  them,  that  it  was  not  his 
fault  if  his  poem  felt  and  bears  cogent  witness  to  the  loss.  Even  the 
sphere  of  personal  morality  was  not  open  to  him;  for  what  principle  of 
truth  or  righteousness  could  he  worthily  have  glorified,  without  pas- 
sing severe  condemnation  on  some  capital  act  of  the  man  whom  it  was 
his  chief  obligation  to  exalt? 

"And  once  more.  Homer  sang  to  his  own  people  of  the  glorious 
deeds  of  their  sires,  to  whom  they  were  united  by  fond  recollection, 
and  by  near  and  historic  ties.  This  was  at  once  a  stimulus  and  a 
check;  it  cheered  his  labor,  and  at  the  same  time  it  absolutely  re- 
quired him  to  study  moral  harmony  and  consistency.  Virgil  sang  to 
the  Romans  of  the  deeds  of  those  who  were  not  Romans,  and  whom 
only  a  most  hollow  fiction  connected  with  his  hearers,  through  the 
dim  vista  of  a  thousand  years,  and  under  circumstances  which  made 
the  pretense  to  historical  continuity  little  better  than  ridiculous. 
It  appears,  however,  as  if  this  great  and  splendid  poet,  being  thrown 
out  of  his  true  bearings  in  regard  to  all  the  deeper  sources  of  interest 
on  which  an  epic  writer  must  depend,  such  as  religion,  patriotism, 
and  liberty,  became  consequently  reckless,  alike  in  major  and  in  minor 
matters,  as  to  all  the  inner  harmonies  of  his  work,  and  contented 
himself  with  the  most  unwearied  and  fastidious  labors  in  its  outward 
elaboration,  where  he  could  give  scope  to  his  extraordinary  powers  of 
versification  and  of  diction  without  fear  of  stumbling  upon  anything 
unfit  for  the  artificial  atmosphere  of  the  Roman  court.  The  conse- 
quence is,  that  a  vein  of  untruthfulness  runs  throughout  the  whole 
y£neid,  as  strong  and  as  remarkable  as  is  the  genuineness  of  thought 
and  feeling  in  the  Homeric  poems.  Homer  walks  in  the  open  day, 
Virgil  by  lamplight.  Homer  gives  us  figures  that  breathe  and  move. 
Virgil  usually  treats  us  to  waxwork.  Homer  has  the  full  force  and  play 
of  the  drama,  Virgil  is  essentially  operatic.  From  Virgil  back  to  Homer 
is  a  greater  distance  than  from  Homer  back  to  life." 


CHAPTER  V. 
COMING  TO   HIS    OPPORTUNITY. 

As  Napoleon  was  swept  into  power  by  the  last  wave  of  a  revolution 
destructive  and  ominous,  so  Gladstone  came  to  his  own  opportunity 
as  a  statesman  by  a  wave  of  reform  constructive  and  full  of  brightest 
promise  for  England.  If  it  is  proper  to  call  Queen  Victoria  "the  first  of 
the  constitutional  rulers  of  England,"  it  must  be  said  that  William  the 
Fourth,  powerless  with  the  tide  of  modern  life,  totally  unable  to  see 
anything  in  the  development  of  republican  and  democratic  sentiment 
save  peril  to  all  institutions,  was  the  last  sullen  and  determined  un- 
constitutional ruler  of  England.  He  serves  as  a  sort  of  memorial  of 
that  vanished  day  when  the  gentlemen  and  lords  of  England  gathered 
pathetically  around  such  a  royal  phantom  as  was  he,  and  condoled 
with'  him  upon  what  they  thought  was  to  be  the  ruin  of  England  and 
the  abolition  of  all  rights  of  property.  The  truth  is  that  at  the  close 
of  1832  England  was  full  of  that  excitement  and  expectancy  which  the 
trees  of  the  forest  and  the  grasses  of  the  earth  know  when  Spring  first 
strolls  through  the  world.  The  landed  classes  and  the  haughty  court- 
iers saw  something  frightful  in  the  melting  of  the  ancient  privileges 
and  icy  prejudices,  and  Lord  Kenyon  cried  out:  "This  Reform,  so- 
called,  will  be  the  destruction  of  the  monarchy!"  Though  the  king 
refused  to  assent  in  royal  person  to  the  Reform  Bill,  which  was  really 
a  great  act  of  legislation,  the  thing  was  done,  the  waves  of  agitation 
rolled  back,  and  even  the  most  cordial  supporters  of  the  measure  of 
reform,  which  transformed  the  whole  electoral  scheme  of  England, 
found  their  hearts  anxious  and  looked  to  the  future  with  assurance 
touched  with  something  of  fear.  This  tremor  of  doubt  was,  for  the 
most  part,  almost  wholly  controlled  by  abounding  faith  in  the  prin- 
ciples which  had  been  asserted.  It  was  indeed  April  in  English  politics, 
and  everything  was  in  bud. 

60 


COMING   TO    HIS    OPPORTUNITY.  61 

What  could  be  more  to  the  liking  of  Sir  John  Gladstone,  the  Tory, 
and  less  apparently  helpful  to  the  development  of  the  nascent  Liberal- 
ism of  his  son,  than  that  just  now  the  Duke  of  Newcastle  should  send 
for  the  young  man  and  ask  him  to  seek  the  seat  in  Parliament  repre- 
senting Newark?  The  Duke  had  no  idea  that  anyone  else  doubted  his 
right  to  arrange  the  representation,  first  of  all  for  himself,  and,  inci- 
dentally, for  the  benefit  of  the  other  inhabitants  of  this  borough.  But 
the  Duke  of  Newcastle  overdid  it.  His  Toryism  furnished  Gladstone's 
mobile  and  free  spirit  with  a  kind  of  chain  for  his  wearing  which  was 
certain  speedily  to  make  him  care  very  little  for  that  kind  of  a  con- 
stituency and  that  sort  of  lordly  supervision. 

Of  course  Sir  John  Gladstone  was  pleased  when  the  young  man 
came  back  from  the  Continent  and  began  to  canvass  for  votes.  No 
one  thought  of  the  young  orator  save  as  one  of  the  chosen  bulwarks 
able  to  defend  the  ruling  classes  against  the  aggression  of  popular 
reform,  and  none  suspected  that  probably  in  the  course  of  that  connec- 
tion with  the  Duke  of  Newcastle  as  a  sort  of  feudal  lord  assuming  to 
own  the  votes  of  his  tenantry,  Gladstone  would  get  some  notions  of 
the  elective  franchise  which  later  on  would  refuse  the  accepted  theory 
of  such  as  the  Duke  of  Newcastle,  namely,  that  the  pyramid  of  gov- 
ernment in  England  ought  to  stand  on  its  sharpest  height  instead  of 
on  its  broadest  base. 

Gladstone  brought  to  this  canvass  of  the  Newark  borough  the  same 
supple  and  pure  muscular  fiber  which,  in  a  campaign  nearly  sixty  years 
after,  was  to  endure  more  than  even  then,  when,  at  twenty-three  years 
of  age,  it  was  possible  for  it  to  stand  amazing  labors.  The  intense  and 
luminous  eyes  which  for  fifty  years  were  to  glow  and  dart  and  illumin- 
ate and  burn  amidst  the  storm  of  debate,  or  in  quiet  hours  of  friend- 
ship to  shine  out  with  all  the  tremulous  messages  of  a  loving  heart, 
then  exercised  their  sovereign  influence,  as  this  attractive  and  really 
eloquent  young  man  poured  forth  his  theories  and  propositions  in  re- 
markably full  and  ready  speech.  These  and  other  striking  features  of 
his  body  he  brought  to  the  service  of  a  mind  intent  on  defending  that 
Toryism  which  he  was  predestined  to  despise.  He  was  opposing  those 


62  GLADSTONE:   A   BIOGRAPHICAL    STUDY. 

measures  of  reform  which  \vere  certain  to  be  but  prophetic  of  the  larger 
changes  he  would  inaugurate  in  English  government. 

Perhaps  even  at  this  time  there  was  enough  of  the  method  of  current 
theology  in  him  to  account  for  the  mixture  of  dogmatism  and  indi- 
rection \vhich  these  speeches  indicate.  One  could  easily  understand 
at  that  time  how  naturally  he  had  desired  to  take  holy  orders  in  prefer- 
ence to  his  seat  in  the  House  of  Commons.  There  was  a  pious  and 
churchly  air  about  him  as  a  speaker.  All  of  the  critics  of  Gladstone 
fail  not  to  tell  us  that  Gladstone  was  "so  much  more  dangerous  as  a 
demagogue"  because  he  at  least  appeared  to  be  religious.  A  grandly 
earnest  spirit,  full  of  faith,  is  likely  to  offend  those  who  are  never  to  be 
suspected  of  religious  conviction.  No  doubt  Gladstone  perplexed  the 
orthodox  in  politics.  A  skillful  critic  indicates  that  at  this  moment 
Gladstone  was  able  to  give  the  Duke  of  Newcastle  a  good  deal  of  con- 
cern as  to  the  future  from  the  flashes  of  day-time  which  came  in  now 
and  then  upon  the  almost  hopeless  night  of  his  Conservatism.  This 
critic  says: 

"He  was  bound  by  the  opinions  of  no  man  and  no  party  (Liberal),  but 
felt  it  a  duty  to  watch  and  resist  that  growing  desire  for  change  which  threat- 
ened to  produce,  'along  with  partial  good,  a  melancholy  preponderance  of 
mischief  (Conservative).  The  first  principle  to  which  he  looked  for  na- 
tional salvation  was  that  'the  duties  of  governors  are  strictly  and  peculiarly 
religious,  and  that  legislatures,  like  individuals,  are  bound  to  carry  through- 
out their  acts  the  spirit  of  the  high  truths  they  have  acknowledged.' 
(Conservative-Oxford.)  The  condition  of  the  poor  demanded  special  at- 
tention; labor  should  receive  adequate  remuneration,  and  he  thought  favor- 
ably of  the  'allotment  of  cottage  grounds.'  (Liberal.)  He  regarded  slav- 
ery as  sanctioned  by  Holy  Scriptures  (Conservative-Oxford),  but  the  slaves 
were  to  be  educated,  and  gradually  emancipated.  (Liberal.)" 

Surely  there  is  a  good  opportunity  here  to  remark  concerning  Glad- 
stone's being  on  both  sides  of  the  fence  at  the  same  time,  but  we  think 
a  closer  view  will  indicate  that  he  was  then  only  in  a  teachable  frame 
of  mind  and  was  learning  something. 

The  contest  was  very  acrimonious  and  prolonged,  but  Gladstone 
won,  his  name  coming  in  at  the  head  of  the  poll. 


COMING  TO   HIS    OPPORTUNITY.  63 

When  the  Reform  Parliament  of  1833  met,  there  began  the  career 
of  Gladstone  as  a  debater  and  master  of  dialectics  in  the  region  of 
political  thought.  The  Liberal  side  was  represented  by  brains  and 
numerical  strength,  and  that  contingent  was  surveyed  by  eyes  np  less 
shrewd  and  penetrating  than  those  of  Sir  Robert  Peel.  The  moderate 
and  timid  began  to  find  safe  places  for  themselves,  for  it  became  cer- 
tain that,  with  O'Connell  leading  the  large  body  of  Irish  members  in  his 
antagonism  to  the  ministry,  and  the  fresh  and  powerful  wave  of 
Liberalism  mounting  in  opposition  to  Sir  Robert  Peel,  even  he  whose 
skill  and  formidable  talents  had  been  able  to  mould,  if  not  to  conquer, 
opposition,  could  not  prevent  stormful  times.  The  Tory  missed  the 
disenfranchised  rotten  boroughs  upon  which  he  had  been  accustomed  to 
rely,  and  though  in  many  cases  property  was  represented  by  some 
Conservative  proprietor,  the  nobility  and  the  large  landed  interests 
were  evidently  in  a  situation  where  a  lesson  of  lasting  influence  must 
be  learned.  The  King's  speech  was  an  echo  of  a  vanishing  past.  Ire- 
land's disorder  continued,  perpetuating  a  theme  which  was  to  grow 
more  interesting  for  the  young  member  from  Newark.  With  Earl  Grey 
and  Lord  Brougham  regretting  some  of  the  methods  of  progress,  with 
the  Earl  of  Ripon,  and  Stanley,  and  Sir  James  Graham  vehement  in 
their  opposition,  with  O'Connell  standing  up  for  order  in  the  mind  of 
England  as  a  promise  of  order  in  the  behavior  of  Ireland,  Gladstone 
saw  the  Government  majority  at  first  overwhelming  all  antagonism, 
and  yet,  although  the  Ministry  had  conceded  much,  he  was  sure  of  the 
strong  opposition  awaiting  it  in  the  House  of  Lords.  Here  he  studied 
the  qualifications  for  Parliament,  and  he  afterwards  made  the  following 
remarks  upon  the  subject: 

"The  qualifications  which  attract  the  favor  of  a  constituency 
are  very  various;  birth,  station,  talent,  character,  former  service,  landed 
possessions,  commercial  and  manufacturing  connection,  and  lastly 
money.  The  two  circumstances  which  strike  me  most  forcibly,  and 
most  painfully,  are,  first,  the  rapid  and  constant  advance  of  the  money 
power;  secondly,  the  reduction  almost  to  zero,  of  the  chances  of 
entrance  into  Parliament  for  men  who  have  nothing  to  rely  upon  but 
their  talent  and  their  character;  nothing  that  is  to  say,  but  'he  two 


64  GLADSTONE:   A   BIOGRAPHICAL    STUDY. 

qualities,  which  certainly  stand  before  all  others  in  the  capacity  of 
rendering  service  to  the  country.  These  again,  are  chiefly  the  young; 
for  such  men  have  usually,  by  the  time  they  reach  middle  life,  attained, 
with  great  difficulty,  to  wealth  or  to  competence.  But  they  have  then 
passed  the  proper  period  for  beginning  an  effective  Parliamentary 
education.  There  have  been  honorable  and  distinguished  exceptions, 
but,  as  a  rule,  it  would  be  as  rational  to  begin  training  for  the  ballot 
at  forty-five  or  fifty,  as  for  the  real,  testing  work  of  the  Cabinet.  That 
union  of  suppleness  and  strength  which  is  absolutely  requisite  for  the 
higher  labors  of  the  administrator  and  the  statesman  is  a  gift  the 
development  of  which,  unless  it  be  commenced  betimes,  nature  soon 
places  beyond  reach.  There  is  indeed  scope  and  function  in  Parliament 
for  the  middle-aged  man,  and  even  for  men  like  myself,  no  longer 
middle-aged ;  but  nothing  can  compensate  for  a  falling  off  in  the  stock 
of  the  young  men  whom  we  need  for  the  coming  time,  and  we  need 
the  choicest  in  the  country.  The  only  education  for  the  highest  work 
in  the  House  of  Commons  is,  as  a  rule,  given  in  the  House  of  Com- 
mons." 

These  conceptions  he  never  lost  sight  of  through  the  discussion 
of  the  question  of  the  Disestablishment  of  the  Church  in  Ireland,  and 
Ireland's  social  condition,  with  which  themes  he  has  had  so  much  to 
do.  These  subjects  were  before  the  House  of  Commons  at  that  time, 
and  also  the  condition  of  the  poor  in  England,  arid  the  fact  of  slavery  in 
the  British  colonies  attracted  anxious  thought.  On  the  subject  of 
slavery  Gladstone  spoke  on  May  I7th  and  on  June  3d,  and  in  his 
speech  he  was  compelled  to  reply  to  the  charges  against  his  father  who 
had  used  slavery  for  the  ends  of  business  in  his  Demera  estates.  Glad- 
stone repeated  the  provisions  which  he  had  indicated  in  his  address 
before  the  people — that  "emancipation  should  be  effected  gradually, 
and  after  due  preparation;  that  the  slaves  should  be  educated  and 
stimulated  to  spontaneous  industry;  and  that  the  masters  should  be 
liberally  compensated."  He  said:  "I  do  not  view  property  as  an  ab- 
stract thing;  it  is  the  creature  of  civil  society.  By  the  Legislature  it 
is  granted,  and  by  the  Legislature  it  is  destroyed." 

Gladstone  does  not  seem  to  have  stormed  the  House,  or  to  have 


THE  RIGHT  HONORABLE  WILLLIAM  EWART  GLADSTONE,  M.P. 


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COMING   TO   HIS    OPPORTUNITY.  05 

failed,  as  did  his  great  rival;  and,  unlike  Disraeli,  he  left  no  announce- 
ment tLcu  some  day  England  would  listen  and  hear  him.  His  fluency 
and  vigorous  delivery  lost  nothing  by  the  "Lancashire  burr"  which,  it 
is  said,  was  on  his  tongue  from  the  first  to  the  last;  and  his  success 
as  an  orator  was  steadily  increasing  while  the  House  was  abolishing 
slavery  and  Gladstone  was  helping  to  see  that  the  slave-owners  re- 
ceived twenty  million  pounds  sterling  as  their  remuneration.  His 
friendship  with  Bishop  Wilberforce  at  this  time  was  a  delight  and  honor 
to  both,  and  the  Bishop  expressed  himself  as  certain  that  the  young 
politician  had  even  larger  work  than  this  laid  out  before  him  in  the 
providence  of  heaven. 

Gladstone  added  to  his  fame  as  a  speaker  and  man  of  affairs  by  his 
terrible  denunciation  of  bribery  and  corruption  with  which  the  Liver- 
pool elections  had  been  conducted.  It  was  impossible  for  him  to 
avoid  Church  matters,  and  he  entered  into  the  discussion  consequent 
upon  the  introduction  of  the  Church  Temporalities  Bill.  He  spoke 
with  all  the  ardor  of  a  polemic.  He  desired  the  support  and  prestige 
of  the  Protestant  Bishops  in  Ireland  and  the  other  clergy  to  be  in- 
creased rather  than  diminished.  Indeed,  Gladstone  strangely  turned 
to  Ireland  from  the  beginning  of  his  career  to  the  end,  as  that  dis- 
tressed and  oftentimes  outraged  people,  adding  so  often  to  their  own 
distresses  and  multiplying  outrage  by  outrage,  commended  itself  to 
this  man  of  faith  and  action.  Belief  in  the  improvability  of  the  human 
species  always  saves  a  man  from  cynicism  in  all  crises,  and  rescues  him 
from  the  habit  of  Toryism  which  is  hopeless  in  the  presence  of  an  abuse, 
unto  that  Liberalism  of  spirit  which  will  not  admit  of  a  defeat  for 
righteousness  in  advance  of  every  effort  for  its  victory.  Meantime, 
O'Connell's  speeches  and  trie  manner  of  their  reception  in  the  House 
of  Commons  will  give  some  idea  of  the  attitude  of  England  toward 
the  Irish  question.  Here  is  one  of  the  liberator's  addresses  in  the 
House: 

"Shall  Ireland  (he  asked)  be  governed  by  a  section?  (Vehement 
shouts  from  the  opposition.)  I  thank  you — (noise  renewed) — for  that 
shriek.  Many  a  shout  of  insolent  domination— (noise) — despicable  and 
contemptible  as  it  is — (noise) — have  I  heard  against  my  country.  (Up- 


66  GLADSTONE:   A   BIOGRAPHICAL    STUDY. 

roar  continued,  during  which  Mr.  O'Connell,  with  uplifted  fist  and 
great  violence  of  manner,  uttered  several  sentences  which  were  inaudible 
in  the  gallery.  The  speaker  was  at  last  obliged  to  interfere  and  call  the  . 
House  to  order.)  Let  them  shout.  It  is  a  senseless  yell.  It  is  the 
spirit  of  the  party  that  has  placed  you  there.  Ireland  will  hear  your 
shrieks.  (Continued  uproar.)  Yes,  you  may  want  us  again.  (Roars 
of  laughter.)  What  would  Waterloo  have  been  if  we  had  not  been 
there?  (Ministerial  cheers  and  Opposition  laughter.)" 

In  1889  Mr.  Gladstone  spoke  on  O'Connell,  and  the  "Spectator" 
thus  commented  upon  it: 

"O'Connell,  if  he  can  now  see  what  Mr.  Gladstone  is  doing  to  exalt 
the  Irish  agitator's  fame  in  the  first  place,  and  in  the  second  and  more 
important  place,  to  effect  that  virtual  separation  between  Ireland  and 
England  at  far  greater  sacrifice  and  in  far  more  signal  contrast  to  the 
significance  of  his  early  career,  which  O'Connell  vainly  sought  to  bring 
within  the  limits  of  serious  Parliamentary  consideration,  must  experi- 
ence the  curious  feeling  that  he  has  at  last  made,  as  a  living  writer  once 
generously  expressed  it,  a  most  magnificent  'posthumous  convert  in 
tardy  compensation  for  contemporaneous  obloquy.'  And  certainly 
whatever  Mr.  Gladstone  may  have  lately  done  to  emulate  the  big,  pas- 
sionate, careless,  and  almost  slovenly  genius  of  the  mighty  agitator,  no 
one  who  remembers  his  earlier  career  could  hope  to  find  a  more  remark- 
able contrast  to  O'Connell  than  that  earlier  career  exhibited.  Young, 
refined,  subtle,  accurate,  delighting  in  distinctions  of  all  kinds,  almost 
academic  in  his  cast  of  mind,  an  orator  who  loved  to  find  unexpected 
reasons  for  what  the  majority  of  his  party  wished  to  think  or  do,  a  care- 
ful student,  and  most  painstaking  in  establishing  the  premises  on  which 
he  proposed  to  build  his  inferences,  but  with  all  his  care  and  subtlety, 
one  who  had  at  command  the  subdued  passion  which  fills  abstract  rea- 
soning with  life  and  persuasiveness,  Mr.  Gladstone  in  1834  must  have 
presented  as  extraordinary  a  contrast  as  it  would  be  possible  to  find 
under  the  sun  to  the  wily,  unscrupulous  agitator,  with  his  glowing 
rhetoric,  with  his  'broad  brush  and  dirty  colors,'  and,  finally,  with  those 
liberal  and  reiterated  promises  of  immediate  repeal  which  Mr.  Gladstone 
to  a  sanguine  temperament,  but  which  we  should  rather  attribute  to  a 


COMING   TO   HIS    OPPORTUNITY.  67 

somewhat  scornful  indifference  to  minutio.1  in  all  cases  where  O'Con- 
nell's  wish  to  persuade  was  strong." 

It  is  not  necessary  to  describe  the  condition  of  things  in  the  Prot- 
estant portions  of  Ireland  at  this  time,  further  than  to  say  that  9,000 
crimes  in  the  districts  which  were  naturally  rebellious  against  the  sort 
of  thing  as  has  been  called  government  in  Ireland,  added  to  more  than 
300  bloody  assaults,  in  the  course  of  one  short  year,  might  justify  the 
notion  of  the  best  equipped  historians  and  publicists  that,  perhaps, 
under  no  flag  claiming  to  be  a  flag  of  civilization,  was  there  such  a 
state  of  poverty,  ignorance,  wretchedness,  rebellion,  and  such  a  general 
disposition  to  fight  somebody,  in  the  hope  of  righting  affairs. 

Of  course  the  only  respectably  orthodox  and  English  remedy  for 
this  state  of  things  for  a  long  time  had  been  coercion,  and  such  an 
indomitable  Englishman  as  Earl  Grey  had  an  immense  following  of 
men  who  could  think  of  nothing  else  at  this  period,  though  O'Connell 
was  alert  and  obstructive  and  eloquent  with  a  noble  opposition.  Soon 
the  plastic  mind  of  Gladstone  was  taught  as  to  coercion  in  the  results 
obtained;  and  we  are  bound  to  say  that  coercion  then  was  apparently 
a  more  successful  way  of  persuading  people  into  order  in  Ireland  than 
it  has  ever  been  since.  Measures  of  constructive  statesmanship  looking 
toward  healing  the  causes  of  discontent  were  determined  upon,  and 
Gladstone  was  not  a  little  interested,  even  in  1833,  in  the  fact  that 
Irishmen  complained  most  seriously  of  having  to  pay  the  expenses  of 
a  church  in  which  they  did  not  worship  and  for  which  they  did  not 
care.  It  was  subjection  of  the  most  serious  and  annoying  kind,  for  it 
touched  their  religious  sensibilities,  and  Gladstone  always  understood 
these  elements  of  human  nature  and  their  sensitiveness,  as  he  under- 
stood nothing  else.  It  had  seemed  pretty  good  statesmanship  to  count 
upon  the  fact  that  no  set  of  people  are  likely  to  be  very  loyal  to  a 
government  which  outrages  them  at  this  point.  Gladstone  knew  his 
own  soul  and  he  knew  this.  The  Disestablishment  of  the  Irish  Church 
already  moved  vaguely  before  the  eye  of  the  young  thinker.  Even  the 
Radicals  at  that  time  were  able  to  get  his  ear  as  they  argued  that  all 
ecclesiastical  property  ought  to  be  secularized,  but  he  instantly  saw 
that  this  probably  touched  not  only  the  Irish,  but  the  English  Church 
establishment,  and  of  course  the  Oxonian,  who  was  then  seeking  to 


68  GLADSTONE:   A   BIOGRAPHICAL    STUDY. 

find  in  Protestantism  some  sort  of  churchmanship  which  he  could 
defend  against  Father  Newman's  position,  revolted  at  so  revolutionary 
a  measure.  Father  Newman  was  simply  a  High  Tory  in  Church  af- 
fairs, and  it  led  him  to  Rome.  Logic  was  with  him,  his  premises  being 
granted,  as  it  never  was  with  Gladstone. 

Another  very  sensitive  point  was  concealed  in  the  fact  that  Non- 
conformists who  did  not  believe  in  all  the  thirty-nine  articles  at  the 
fender  age  in  which  such  a  soul  as  Shelley  is  most  likely  to  be  exhibiting 
its  crude  protests,  were  unable  to  enter  the  Universities  unless  they 
subscribed  to  these  statements  at  the  time  of  matriculation.  The 
whole  scheme  produced  dogmatism  or  dishonesty.  Here  Gladstone 
found  himself  in  difficulties,  but  he  met  them  with  the  skill  of  a  trained 
dialectician.  He  said  that  the  Bill  proposed  to  give  remedy  could 
not  effect  much,  if  anything,  at  the  Universities,  because  of  the 
fact  that  "both  in  study  and  in  discipline  they  aimed  at  the  formation 
of  a  moral  character,  and  that  aim  could  not  be  attained  if  every  student 
were  at  liberty  to  exclude  himself  from  the  religious  training  of  the 
place."  Gladstone  guarded  and  modified  his  position  on  this  matter 
with  so  much  of  tolerance  and  with  so  shrewd  an  appreciation  of  the 
larger  ideals  of  education  and  justice  coming  into  the  mind  of  England 
that  the  speech  itself  held  a  certain  promise  of  a  deeper  philosophy 
and  a  more  radical  statesmanship  in  years  to  come.  A  large  majority 
passed  the  bill. 

Gladstone  was  already  recognized  as  the  man  for  an  emergency, 
and  Sir  Robert  Peel  did  not  need  to  draw  the  attention  of  the  party 
leaders  to  the  new  member  from  Newark.  Indeed  Sir  Robert  Peel 
at  this  time  had  already  felt  the  influence  upon  himself  exercised  by 
the  depth  and  sobriety,  matched  with  the  ardor  and  wide  range  of  this 
young  man's  political  thought.  It  is  useless  to  deny  that  Gladstone, 
young  as  he  was,  genuinely  served  the  great  Tory  leader  in  the  de- 
velopment of  his  political  philosophy.  As  both  of  them  had  taken  a 
"double  first"  in  their  college  examinations,  so  now  they  were  about 
to  take  a  "double  first,"  if  such  a  thing  were  possible,  in  their  progress 
toward  liberal  opinions. 


CHAPTER  VI. 
JUNIOR  LORD  OF  THE  TREASURY  AND  AUTHOR. 

Lord  Grey  resigned  in  1834,  and  the  King  summoned  the  Duke  of 
Wellington  to  constitute  a  Government  to  his  liking.  Wellington 
was  sensible  enough  to  know  that  the  will  which  had  conquered  at 
Waterloo  might  be  stiff  enough,  but  scarcely  mobile  enough,  to  serve 
the  purpose  of  England  at  this  time.  The  Iron  Duke  unwittingly 
urged  a  man  whose  temper  of  mind  would  enable  him  to  lead  the  Con- 
servative party  further,  if  such  a  thing  were  possible,  as  he  had  already 
led  the  party  far  in  the  direction  of  something  quite  as  important  as 
the  repeal  of  the  Corn  Laws.  A  middle-class  man  was  Robert  Peel, 
yet  he  held  the  heart  of  the  aristocracy  of  England  in  his  hand.  The 
Duke  strongly  urged  Peel  as  the  leader  of  the  new  Administration, 
and  it  was  not  long  before  he  accepted  the  task  and  formed  a  Ministry. 
He  immediately  called  Gladstone  to  the  office  of  Junior  Lord  of  the 
Treasury.  The  young  man  had  already  given  intimation  of  that  genius 
for  finance  which  made  him  at  last  the  most  skillful  and  philosophic 
expositor  of  a  Budget  the  Anglo-Saxon  world  has  ever  known. 

Gladstone  was  then  twenty-five  years  of  age,  and  he  had  been 
lifted,  in  his  first  Parliament,,  to  a  position  to  which  his  natural  taste 
fitted  him,  and  in  February,  1835,  after  having  made  it  clear  that  he  had 
the  capacity  and  training  to  fill  almost  any  position  in  English  political 
life,  he  became  Under  Secretary  of  the  Colonies.  Here  his  great 
business  ability  demonstrated  itself  for  a  better  regulation  of  the  car- 
riage of  passengers  in  merchant  vessels.  Prose  was  made  to  yield  to 
poetry,  for  he  touched  every  topic  with  the  light  of  imagination.  But 
more  than  intellect  and  fancy  were  here.  In  this  very  Bill  which  he 
proposed  humanity  and  justice  to  the  oppressed  gave  evidence  of  their 
sway  over  his  mind.  Gladstone  was  learning  much  from  O'Connell  as 
the  latter  watched  and  labored  for  the  interests  of  his  beloved  Ireland; 

6Q 


70  GLADSTONE:   A    BIOGRAPHICAL   STUDY. 

and  he  also  learned  another  kind  of  lesson  from  Sir  Robert  Peel,  who 
had  O'Connell  and  his  party  to  handle.  This  latter  lesson  had  to  do 
with  the  weakness  of  any  policy  of  intimidation,  and  the  probable  out- 
come of  a  policy  of  justice  with  regard  to  that  distressed  Ireland. 

But  Gladstone  was  a  long  while  journeying  toward  Home  Rule, 
though,  like  every  other  Briton,  at  this  time  he  was  greatly  taken  with 
the  idea  of  O'Connell's,  that  "no  revolution  is  worth  the  shedding  of 
a  drop  of  blood;" — especially  English  blood  by  Irish  malcontents. 
He  held  this  along  with  the  other  idea  that  people  ought,  on  general 
principles,  to  obey  the  English  Government. 

Lord  John  Russell  soon  precipitated  the  question  as  to  the  efficiency 
of  the  Irish  State  Church,  and  such  was  the  feeling  in  Parliament  and 
England  that  Sir  Robert  Peel,  with  Gladstone  and  Lord  Aberdeen, 
with  whom  the  latter  was  to  be  pleasantly  associated  after  a  while,  left 
their  offices.  This  leisure  gave  him  opportunity  for  study,  and  in  the 
course  of  a  few  months  he  began  to  work  along  lines  of  investigation 
which  yielded  him  the  largest  results  in  the  form  of  information  which 
he  kept  always  in  large  quantities  for  questions  in  Parliament  and  in 
the  form  of  essays  and  reviews  of  ecclesiastical  and  literary  questions 
whose  treatment  he  made  so  thorough  and  attractive  that  these  studies 
have  passed  into  literature. 

Before  he  left  the  office,  he  had  measurably  enlarged  the  sphere  of 
fiis  influence  as  a  political  orator  and  thinker. 

Among  the  oratorical  efforts  of  this  period  should  be  cited  Glad- 
stone's impassioned  opposition  to  a  rearrangement  of  Church  rates, 
involving  an  abridgment  of  ecclesiastical  prerogative.  True  to  his 
cardinal  conviction  that  religion  is  the  basis  of  the  greatness  of  a 
State,  he  drew  a  powerful  comparison  between  Rome  and  England. 
"It  was  not,"  said  he,  "by  the  active  strength  and  resistless  prowess 
of  her  legions,  the  bold  independence  of  her  citizens,  or  the  well- 
maintained  equilibrium  of  her  constitution,  or  by  the  judicious  adapta- 
tion of  various  measures  to  the  various  circumstances  of  her  subject 
States,  that  the  Roman  power  was  upheld.  Its  foundation  lay  in  the 
prevailing  feeling  of  religion.  This  was  the  superior  power  which 
curbed  the  license  of  individual  rule,  and  engendered  in  the  people  a 


LORD  OF  THE  TREASURY  AND  AUTHOR.     ;,  i 

lofty  disinterestedness  and  disregard  of  personal  motives,  and  devotion 
to  the  glory  of  the  republic." 

The  brilliant  achievements  which  had  already  marked  his  entrance 
into  political  life  augured  in  every  way  favorably  for  his  sure  and 
steady  advancement.  His  friend,  Bishop  Wilberforce,  wrote  propheti- 
cally: "There  is  no  height  to  which  you  might  not  fairly  rise.  If  it 
please  God  to  spare  us  violent  convulsions  and  the  loss  of  our  liberties, 
you  may  at  a  future  day  wield  the  whole  government  of  this  land.  .  . 
Act  now  with  a  view  to  then." 

His  intellectual  life  also  found  expression  in  the  publication  of  his 
first  book,  "The  State  in  its  Relations  with  the  Church."  The  Catholic 
revival,  so-called,  had  swept  Oxford,  and  the  spell  of  John  Henry  New- 
man, to  whom  the  highest  High  Churchism  was  soon  to  prove  too  low, 
reached  every  spirit  such  as  young  Gladstone's  with  almost  determining 
force.  This  book  was  the  rather  overwrought  plea  of  Toryism  in  ec- 
clesiastics. Now  Macaulay,  who  had  met  and  admired  Gladstone  in 
Rome,  was  the  sworn  opponent  of  Tory  churchmanship.  He  said,  on 
reading  the  book:  "The  Lord  hath  delivered  him  into  our  hands." 

Gladstone  might  well  have  anticipated  Mr.  William  Watson  and 

prayed : 

"I  do  not  ask  to  have  iny  fill 
Of  wine,  or  love,  or  fame. 
I  do  not,  for  a  little  ill, 
Against  the  gods  exclaim. 

One  boon  of  fortune  I  implore, 

With  one  petition  kneel: 
At  least  caress  me  not,  before 

Thou  break  me  on  thy  wheel." 

Macaulay's  first  paragraph  was  indeed  pleasing,  even  if  it  con- 
tained something  of  apparent  patronage.  The  reviewer  said: 

"The  author  of  this  volume  is  a  young  man  of  unblemished  char- 
acter, and  of  distinguished  parliamentary  talents,  the  rising  hope  of 
those  stern  and  unbending  Tories  who  follow,  reluctantly  and  mu- 
tinously, a  leader  whose  experience  and  eloquence  are  indispensable 
to  them,  but  whose  cautious  temper  and  moderate  opinions  they  abhor. 
It  would  not  be  at  all  strange  if  Mr.  Gladstone  was  one  of  the  most 


72  GLADSTONE:   A  BIOGRAPHICAL   STUDY. 

unpopular  men  in  England.  But  we  believe  that  we  do  him  no  more 
than  justice  when  we  say  that  his  abilities  and  his  demeanor  have 
obtained  for  him  the  respect  and  good  will  of  all  parties.  His  first 
appearance  in  the  character  of  an  author  is  therefore  an  interesting 
event;  and  it  is  natural  that  the  gentle  wishes  of  the  public  should  go 
with  him  to  his  trial." 

He  proceeded  to  congratulate  the  world  that  there  was  a  young 
man  in  England,  and  especially  one  in  public  life,  who  would  set  him- 
self to  such  a  serious  task.  He  said: 

"We  are  much  pleased,  without  any  reference  to  the  soundness  or 
unsoundness  of  Mr.  Gladstone's  theories,  to  see  a  grave  and  elaborate 
treatise  on  an  important  part  of  the  Philosophy  of  Government  proceed 
from  the  pen  of  a  young  man  who  is  rising  to  eminence  in  the  House 
of  Commons.  There  is  little  danger  that  people  engaged  in  the  con- 
flicts of  active  life  will  be  too  much  addicted  to  general  speculation. 
The  opposite  vice  is  that  which  most  easily  besets  them.  The  times 
and  tides  of  business  and  debate  tarry  for  no  man.  A  politician  must 
often  talk  and  act  before  he  has  thought  and  read." 

It  is  very  doubtful  if  young  Gladstone's  friends  could  have  asked 
more  than  this  from  the  richly  endowed  Macaulay.  But  Gladstone's 
difficulty  in  after  life  was  not  that  he  went  to  any  subjects,  except, 
perhaps,  those  of  modern  science,  unequipped  and  willing  to  talk 
before  he  had  thought  and  read.  Macaulay  spoke  most  pleasantly,  too, 
of  Gladstone's  qualifications  for  a  work  involving  much  philosophic 
and  careful  thinking.  He  said: 

"Mr.  Gladstone  seems  to  us  to  be,  in  many  respects,  exceedingly 
well  qualified  for  philosophical  investigation.  His  mind  is  of  large 
grasp;  nor  is  he  deficient  in  dialectical  skill.  But  he  does  not  give 
his  intellect  fair  play.  There  is  no  want  of  light,  but  a  great  want  of 
what  Bacon  would  have  called  dry  light.  Whatever  Mr.  Gladstone 
sees  is  refracted  and  distorted  by  a  false  medium  of  passions  and  preju- 
dices. His  style  bears  a  remarkable  analogy  to  his  mode  of  thinking. 
His  rhetoric,  though  often  good  of  its  kind,  darkens  and  perplexes  the 
logic  which  it  should  illustrate.  Half  his  acuteness  and  diligence,  with 
a  barren  imagination  and  a  scanty  vocabulary,  would  have  saved  him 


LORD  OF  THE  TREASURY  AND  AUTHOR.     73 

from  almost  all  his  mistakes.  He  has  one  gift  most  dangerous  to  a 
speculator,  a  vast  command  of  a  kind  of  language,  grave  and  majestic, 
but  of  vague  and  uncertain  import;  of  a  kind  of  language  which  affects 
us  much  in  the  same  way  in  which  the  lofty  diction  of  the  Chorus  of 
Clouds  affected  the  simple-hearted  Athenian. 

"When  propositions  have  been  established,  and  nothing  remains  but 
to  amplify  and  decorate  them,  this  dim  magnificence  may  be  in  place. 
But  if  it  is  admitted  into  a  demonstration,  it  is  very  much  worse  than 
absolute  nonsense;  just  as  that  transparent  haze,  through  which  the 
sailor  sees  capes  and  mountains  of  false  sizes  and  in  false  bearings,  is 
more  dangerous  than  utter  darkness.  Now,  Mr.  Gladstone  is  fond  of 
employing  the  phraseology  of  which  we  speak  in  those  parts  of  his 
work  which  require  the  utmost  perspicuity  and  precision  of  which 
human " language  is  capable;  and  in  this  way  he  deludes  first  himself 
and  his  readers.  The  foundations  of  his  theory,  which  ought  to  be 
buttresses  of  adamant,  are  made  out  of  the  flimsy  materials  which  are 
fit  only  for  perorations.  This  fault  is  one  which  no  subsequent  care 
or  industry  can  correct.  The  more  strictly  Mr.  Gladstone  reasons  on 
his  premises,  the  more  absurd  are  the  conclusions  which  he  brings  out; 
and,  when  at  last  his  good  sense  and  good  nature  recoil  from  the  hor- 
rible practical  inferences  to  which  his  theory  leads,  he  is  reduced  some- 
times to  take  refuge  in  arguments  inconsistent  with  his  fundamental 
doctrines,  and  sometimes  to  escape  from  the  legitimate  consequences 
of  his  false  principles,  under  cover  of  equally  false  history." 

All  this  was  introductory  to  the  carrying  out  of  Macaulay's  plan, 
namely,  to  crush  the  young  Tory's  theory  of  Church  and  State,  which 
had  such  admirable  statement  at  his  hands.  Macaulay  disclaims  any 
intention  of  attacking  the  Church.  He  said: 

"It  is  possible  that  some  persons  that  have  read  Mr.  Gladstone's 
book  carelessly,  and  others  who  have  merely  heard  in  conversation, 
or  seen  in  a  newspaper,  that  the  member  for  Newark  has  written  in 
defense  of  the  Church  of  England  against  the  supporters  of  the  vol- 
untary system,  may  imagine  that  we  are  writing  in  defense  of  the 
voluntary  system,  and  that  we  desire  the  abolition  of  the  Established 
Church.  This  is  not  the  case.  It  would  be  as  unjust  to  accuse  us 


74  GLADSTONE:   A    BIOGRAPHICAL   STUDY. 

of  attacking  the  Church,  because  we  attack  Mr.  Gladstone's  doctrines, 
as  it  would  be  to  accuse  Locke  of  wishing  for  anarchy,  because  he 
refuted  Filmer's  patriarchal  theory  of  government,  or  to  accuse  Black- 
stone  of  recommending  the  confiscation  of  ecclesiastical  property, 
because  he  denied  that  the  right  of  the  rector  to  tithe  was  derived  from 
the  Levitical  law.  It  is  to  be  observed,  that  Mr.  Gladstone  rests  his 
case  on  entirely  new  grounds,  and  does  not  differ  more  widely  from 
us  than  from  some  of  those  who  have  hitherto  been  considered  as  the 
most  illustrious  champions  of  the  Church.  He  is  not  content  with  the 
Ecclesiastical  Polity,  and  rejoices  that  the  latter  part  of  that  celebrated 
work  'does  not  carry  with  it  the  weight  of  Hooker's  authority.'  He 
is  not  content  with  Bishop  Warburton's  Alliance  of  Church  and  State. 
'The  propositions  of  that  work  generally,'  he  says,  'are  to  be  received 
with  qualification;'  and  he  agrees  with  Bolingbroke  in  thinking  that 
Warburton's  whole  theory  rests  on  fiction.  He  is  still  less  satisfied 
with  Paley's  defense  of  the  Church,  which  he  pronounces  to  be  'tainted 
by  the  original  vice  of  false  ethical  principles/  and  'full  of  the  seeds 
of  evil.'  He  conceives  that  Dr.  Chalmers  has  taken  a  partial  view  of 
the  subject,  and  'put  forth  much  questionable  matter.'  In  truth,  on 
almost  every  point  on  which  we  are  opposed  to  Mr.  Gladstone,  we  have 
on  our  side  the  authority  of  some  divine,  eminent  as  a  defender  of 
existing  establishments. 

"Mr.  Gladstone's  whole  theory  rests  on  this  great  fundamental 
proposition,  that  the  propagation  of  religious  truth  is  one  of  the 
principal  ends  of  government,  as  government.  If  Mr.  Gladstone  has 
not  proved  this  proposition,  his  system  vanishes  at  once." 

He  had  now  stated  the  fundamental  principle  upon  which  Glad- 
stone's theory  rested.  In  Macaulay's  handling  of  the  subject  he  was  not 
unfair  enough  to  give  Gladstone  slender  opportunity  to  speak  for  him- 
self. Indeed,  he  says: 

"The  following  paragraph  is  a  specimen  of  the  arguments  by  which 
Mr.  Gladstone  has,  as  he  conceives,  established  his  great  fundamental 
proposition : 

"  'We  may  state  the  same  proposition  in  a  more  general  form,  in 
which  it  surely  must  command  universal  assent.  Wherever  there  is 


LORD  OF  THE  TREASURY  AND  AUTHOR.     75 

power  in  the  universe,  that  power  is  the  property  of  God,  the  King  of 
that  universe — his  property  of  right,  however  for  a  time  withholden 
or  abused.  Now  this  property  is,  as  it  were,  realized,  is  used  according 
to  the  will  of  the  owner,  when  it  is  used  for  the  purposes  "he  has  ordained, 
and  in  the  temper  of  mercy,  justice,  truth,  and  faith  which  he  has 
taught  us.  But  those  principles  can  never  be  truly,  never  can  be  per- 
manently, entertained  in  the  human  breast,  except  by  a  continual 
reference  to  their  source  and  the  supply  of  the  Divine  grace.  The 
powers,  therefore,  that  dwell  in  individuals  acting-  as  a  government,  as 
well  as  those  that  dwell  in  individuals  acting  for  themselves,  can  only 
be  secured  for  right  uses  by  applying  to  them  a  religion.' 

"Here  are  propositions  of  vast  and  indefinite  extent,  conveyed 
in  language  which  has  a  certain  obscure  dignity  and  sanctity,  attractive, 
we  doubt  not,  to  many  minds.  But  the  moment  that  we  examine  these 
propositions  closely,  the  moment  that  we  bring  them  to  the  test  by 
running  over  but  a  very  few  of  the  particulars  which  are  included  in 
them,  we  find  them  to  be  false  and  extravagant.  The  doctrine  which 
'must  surely  command  universal  assent'  in  this,  that  every  association 
of  human  beings  which  exercises  any  power  \vhatever,  that  is  to  say, 
every  association  of  human  beings,  is  bound,  as  such  association,  to 
profess  a  religion.  Imagine  the  effect  which  wrould  follow  if  this 
principle  were  really  in  force  during  four-and-twenty  hours.  Take  one 
instance  out  of  a  million.  A  stage-coach  company  has  power  over  its 
horses.  This  power  is  the  property  of  God.  It  is  used  according  to 
the  will  of  God  when  it  is  used  with  mercy.  But  the  principle  of  mercy 
can  never  be  truly  or  permanently  entertained  in  the  human  breast 
without  continual  reference  to  God.  The  powders,  therefore,  that  dwell 
in  individuals,  acting  as  a  stage-coach  company,  can  only  be  secured 
for  right  uses  by  applying  to  them  a  religion.  Every  stage-coach  com- 
pany ought,  therefore,  in  its  collective  capacity,  to  profess  some  one 
faith,  to  have  its  articles,  and  its  public  worship,  and  its  tests.  That 
this  conclusion,  and  an  infinite  number  of  other  conclusions  equally 
strange,  follow  of  necessity  from  Mr.  Gladstone's  principle,  is  as  certain 
as  it  is  that  two  and  two  make  four.  And,  if  the  legitimate  conclusions 
be  so  absurd,  there  must  be  something  unsound  in  the  principle." 


76  GLADSTONE:   A   BIOGRAPHICAL   STUDY. 

It  is  a  curious  fact  that  Macaulay  placed  his  finger  at  once  upon 
the  quality  of  Gladstone's  language,  insisting  that  it  had  "a  certain  ob- 
scure dignity  and  sanctity,  attractive,  no  doubt,  to  many  minds."  Glad- 
stone never  lost  his  churchliness  of  literary  style.  After  dealing  with 
this  passage  quoted  from  Gladstone,  Macaulay  says: 

"We  will  quote  another  passage  of  the  same  sort: 

"  'Why,  then,  we  now  come  to  ask,  should  the  governing  body  in 
a  state  profess  a  religion?  First,  because  it  is  composed  of  individual 
men;  and  they,  being  appointed  to  act  in  a  definite  moral  capacity, 
must  sanctify  their  acts  done  in  that  capacity  by  the  offices  of  religion; 
inasmuch  as  the  acts  cannot  otherwise  be  acceptable  to  God,  or  any- 
thing but  sinful  and  punishable  in  themselves.  And  whenever  we  turn 
our  face  away  from  God  in  our  conduct,  we  are  living  atheistically.  .  . 
In  fulfilment,  then,  of  his  obligations  as  an  individual,  the  statesman 
must  be  a  worshiping  man.  But  his  acts  are  public — the  powers  and 
instruments  with  which  he  works  are  public — acting  under  and  by  the 
authority  of  the  law,  he  moves  at  his  word  ten  thousand  subject  arms; 
and  because  such  energies  are  thus  essentially  public,  and  wholly  out 
of  the  range  of  mere  individual  agency,  they  must  be  .sanctified  not 
only  by  the  private  personal  prayers  and  piety  of  those  who  fill  public 
situations,  but  also  by  public  acts  of  the  men  composing  the  public 
body.  They  must  offer  prayer  and  praise  in  their  public  and  collective 
character — in  that  character  wherein  they  constitute  the  organ  of  the 
nation,  and  wield  its  collective  force.  Wherever  there  is  a  reasoning 
agency,  there  is  a  moral  duty  and  responsibility  involved  in  it.  The 
governors  are  reasoning  agents  for  the  nation,  in  their  conjoint  acts 
as  such.  And  therefore  there  must  be  attached  to  this  agency,  as  that 
without  which  none  of  our  responsibilities  can  be  met,  a  religion. 
And  this  religion  must  be  that  of  the  conscience  of  the  governor,  or 
none.' 

"Here  again  we  find  propositions  of  vast  sweep,  and  of  sound  so 
orthodox  and  solemn  that  many  good  people,  we  doubt  not,  have  been 
greatly  edified  by  it.  But  let  us  examine  the  words  closely;  and  it 
will  immediately  become  plain  that,  if  these  principles  be  once  ad- 
mitted, there  is  an  end  of  all  society.  No  combination  can  be  formed 


LORD  OF  THE  TREASURY  AND  AUTHOR.     77 

for  any  purpose  of  mutual  help,  for  trade,  for  public  works,  for  the 
relief  of  the  sick  or  the  poor,  for  the  promotion  of  art  or  science,  unless 
the  members  of  the  combination  agree  in  their  theological  opinions. 
Take  any  such  combination  at  random,  the  London  and  Birmingham 
Railway  Company,  for  example,  and  observe  to  what  consequences 
Mr.  Gladstone's  arguments  inevitably  lead.  'Why  should  the  di- 
rectors of  the  Railway  Company,  in  their  collective  capacity,  profess 
a  religion?  First,  because  the  direction  is  composed  of  individual 
men  appointed  to  act  in  a  definite  moral  capacity,  bound  to  look  care- 
fully to  the  property,  the  limbs,  and  the  lives  of  their  fellow-creatures, 
bound  to  act  diligently  for  their  constituents,  bound  to  govern  their 
servants  with  humanity  and  justice,  bound  to  fulfill  with  fidelity  many 
important  contracts.  They  must,  therefore,  sanctify  their  acts  by  the 
offices  of  religion  or  these  acts  will  be  sinful  and  punishable  in  them- 
selves. 

"  'In  fulfillment,  then,  of  his  obligations  as  an  individual,  the  Di- 
rector of  the  London  and  Birmingham  Railway  Company  must  be  a 
worshiping  man.  But  his  acts  are  public.  He  acts  for  a  body.  And 
because  these  energies  are  out  of  the  range  of  his  mere  individual 
agency,  they  must  be  sanctified  by  public  acts  of  devotion.  The  Rail- 
way directors  must  offer  prayer  and  praise  in  their  public  and  col- 
lective character,  in  that  character  wherewith  they  constitute  the  organ 
of  the  company,  and  wield  its  collected  power.  Wherever  there  is 
reasoning  agency,  there  is  moral  responsibility.  The  directors  are 
reasoning  agents  for  the  company.  And  therefore  there  must  be  at- 
tached to  this  agency,  as  that  without  which  none  of  our  responsi- 
bilities can  be  met,  a  religion.  And  this  religion  must  be  that  of  the 
conscience  of  the  director  himself,  or  none.  There  must  be  public 
worship  and  a  test.  No  Jew,  no  Socinian,  no  Presbyterian,  no  Catholic, 
no  Quaker,  must  be  permitted  to  be  the  organ  of  the  company,  and  to 
wield  its  collected  force.'  Would  Mr.  Gladstone  really  defend  this 
proposition?" 

It  is  thus  that  the  well-informed  historian,  uttering  the  voice  of 
England's  somewhat  worldly  common  sense,  pushes  his  inquiry  upon 
the  churchman.  No  more  fair  treatment  has  any  young  man  of  first- 


78  GLADSTONE:  A   BIOGRAPHICAL  STUDY. 

rate  genius  received  from  an  elder  essayist.  Macaulay's  fairness  is 
proved  also  when  near  the  conclusion  of  the  essay,  he  says: 

"We  have  now  said  almost  all  that  we  think  it  necessary  to  say 
respecting  Mr.  Gladstone's  theory.  And  perhaps  it  would  be  safest  for 
us  to  stop  here.  It  is  much  easier  to  pull  down  than  to  build  up.  Yet, 
that  we  may  give  Mr.  Gladstone  his  revenge,  we  will  state  concisely  our 
own  views  respecting  the  alliance  of  Church  and  State. 

"We  set  out  in  company  with  Warburton,  and  remain  with  him 
pretty  sociably  till  we  come  to  his  contract;  a  contract  which  Mr. 
Gladstone  very  properly  designates  as  a  fiction.  We  consider  the  pri- 
mary end  of  government  as  a  purely  temporal  end,  the  protection  of 
the  persons  and  the  property  of  men. 

"We  think  that  government,  like  every  other  contrivance  of  human 
wisdom,  from  the  highest  to  the  lowest,  is  likely  to  answer  its  main  end 
best  when  it  is  constructed  with  a  single  view  to  that  end.  Mr.  Glad- 
stone, who  loves  Plato,  will  not  quarrel  with  us  for  illustrating  our 
proposition,  after  Plato's  fashion,  from  the  most  familiar  objects.  Take 
cutlery,  for  example.  A  blade  which  is  designed  both  to  shave  and  to 
carve  will  certainly  not  shave  so  well  as  a  razor,  or  carve  so  well  as  a 
carving-knife.  An  academy  of  painting,  which  should  also  be  a  bank, 
would  in  all  probability,  exhibit  very  bad  pictures  and  discount  very 
bad  bills.  A  gas  company,  which  should  also  be  an  infant  school  society, 
would,  we  apprehend,  light  the  streets  ill,  and  teach  the  children  ill.  On 
this  principle,  we  think  that  government  should  be  organized  solely 
with  a  view  to  its  main  end;  and  that  no  part  of  its  efficiency  for  that 
end  should  be  sacrificed  in  order  to  promote  any  other  end,  however 
excellent. 

"But  does  it  follow  from  hence  that  governments  ought  never  to 
pursue  any  end  other  than  their  main  end?  In  no  wise.  Though  it 
is  desirable  that  every  institution  should  have  a  main  end,  and  should 
be  so  formed  as  to  be  in  the  highest  degree  efficient  for  that  main  end; 
yet  if,  without  any  sacrifice  of  its  efficiency  for  that  end,  it  can  pursue 
any  other  good  end,  it  ought  to  do  so.  Thus,  the  end  for  which  a 
hospital  is  built  is  the  relief  of  the  sick,  not  the  beautifying  of  the  street. 
To  sacrifice  the  health  of  the  sick  to  splendor  of  architectural  effect, 


LORD  OF  THE  TREASURY  AND  AUTHOR.     79 

tu  place  the  building  in  a  bad  air  only  that  it  may  present  a  more  com- 
manding front  to  a  great  public  place,  to  make  the  wards  hotter  or 
cooler  than  they  ought  to  be,  in  order  that  the  columns  and  windows 
of  the  exterior  may  please  the  passers-by,  would  be  monstrous.  But  if, 
without  any  sacrifice  of  the  chief  object,  the  hospital  can  be  made  an 
ornament  to  the  metropolis,  it  would  be  absurd  not  to  make  it  so. 

"In  the  same  manner,  if  a  government  can,  without  any  sacrifice  of 
its  main  end,  promote  any  other  good  work,  it  ought  to  do  so.  The 
encouragement  of  the  fine  arts,  for  example,  is  by  no  means  the  main 
end  of  government;  and  it  would  be  absurd,  in  constituting  a  govern- 
ment, to  bestow  a  thought  on  the  question,  whether  it  would  be  a  gov- 
ernment likely  to  train  Raphaels  and  Domenichinos.  But  it  by  no 
means  follows  that  it  is  improper  for  a  government  to  form  a  national 
gallery  of  pictures.  The  same  may  be  said  of  patronage  bestowed  on 
learned  men,  of  the  publication  of  archives,  of  the  collecting  of  libraries, 
menageries,  plants,  fossils,  antiques,  of  journeys  and  voyages  for  pur- 
poses of  geographical  discovery  or  astronomical  observation.  It  is 
not  for  these  ends  that  government  may  have  at  its  command  resources 
which  will  enable  it,  without  injury  to  its  main  end,  to  pursue  these 
collateral  ends  far  more  effectually  than  any  individual  or  any  volun- 
tary association  could  do.  If  so,  government  ought  to  pursue  these 
collateral  ends. 

"It  is  still  more  evidently  the  duty  of  government  to  promote,  always 
in  subordination  to  its  main  end,  everything  which  is  useful  as  a  means 
for  the  attaining  of  that  main  end.  The  improvement  of  steam  navi- 
gation, for  example,  is  by  no  means  a  primary  object  of  government. 
But  as  steam  vessels  are  useful  for  the  purpose  of  national  defense, 
and  for  the  purpose  of  facilitating  intercourse  between  distant  provinces, 
and  of  thereby  consolidating  the  force  of  the  empire,  it  may  be  the 
bounden  duty  of  government  to  encourage  ingenious  men  to  perfect 
an  invention  which  so  directly  tends  to  make  the  State  more  efficient 
for  its  great  primary  end." 

But  this  is  not  enough.  He  adds,  after  outlining  the  necessary 
failure  of  a  church  which  depends  upon  the  State: 

"A  statesman,  judging  on  our  principles,  would  pronounce  without 


80  GLADSTONE:   A   BIOGRAPHICAL   STUDY 

hesitation  that  a  church,  such  as  we  have  last  described,  never  ought 
to  have  been  set  up.  Further  than  this  we  will  not  venture  to  speak 
for  him.  He  would  doubtless  remember  that  the  world  is  full  of  insti- 
tutions which,  though  they  never  ought  to  have  been  set  up,  yet,  having 
been  set  up,  ought  not  to  be  rudely  pulled  down;  and  that  it  is  often 
wise  in  practice  to  be  content  with  the  mitigation  of  an  abuse  which, 
looking  at  it  in  the  abstract,  we  might  feel  impatient  to  destroy." 

He  concludes  by  saying: 

"We  have  done;  and  nothing  remains  but  that  we  part  from  Mr. 
Gladstone  with  the  courtesy  of  antagonists  who  bear  no  malice.  We 
dissent  from  his  opinions,  but  we  admire  his  talents;  we  respect  his  in- 
tegrity and  benevolence;  and  we  hope  that  he  will  not  suffer  political 
avocations  so  entirely  to  engross  him,  as  to  leave  him  no  leisure  for 
literature  and  philosophy." 

Macaulay  was  abundantly  pleased  with  Gladstone  in  after  years. 

Gladstone  himself,  in  his  famous  "Chapter  of  Autobiography," 
speaks  thus  of  Macaulay's  review  of  his  book : 

"An  early  copy  of  the  Review  containing  the  powerful  essay  of 
Lord  Macaulay  was  sent  to  me,  and  I  found  that  to  the  main  proposi- 
tion, sufficiently  startling,  of  the  work  itself,  the  Reviewer  had  added 
this  assumption,  that  it  contemplated  not  indeed  persecution,  but  yet 
the  retrogressive  progress  of  disabling  and  disqualifying  from  civil  office 
all  those  who  did  not  adhere  to  the  religion  of  the  State.  Before  (I 
think)  the  number  of  the  'Edinburgh  Review'  for  April,  1839,  could 
have  been  in  the  hands  of  the  public,  I  had  addressed  to  Lord  (then 
Mr.)  Macaulay  the  following  letter,  which  I  shall  make  no  apology 
for  inserting,  inasmuch  as  it  will  precede  and  introduce  one  more 
morsel  of  his  writing,  for  which  the  public  justly  shows  a  keen  and 
insatiable  appetite." 

"6  Carlton  Gardens,  April  loth,  1839. 
"Dear  Sir, 

"I  have  been  favored  with  a  forthcoming  number  of  the  'Edinburgh 
Review,'  and  I  perhaps  too  much  presume  upon  the  bare  acquaintance  with 
you  of  which  alone  I  can  boast,  in  thus  unceremoniously  assuming  you 
to  be  the  author  of  the  article  entitled  'Church  and  State,'  and  in  offering 
you  my  very  warm  and  cordial  thanks  for  the  manner  in  which  you  nave 


ROBERT  PEEL 


BENJ.  DISRAELI 


LORD  OF  THE  TREASURY  AND  AUTHOR.     81 

treated  both  the  work  and  the  author  on  whom  you  deigned  to  bestow 
your  attention.  In  whatever  you  write,  you  can  hardly  hope  for  the 
privilege  of  most  anonymous  productions,  a  real  concealment;  but  if  it 
had  been  possible  not  to  recognize  you,  I  should  have  questioned  your 
authorship  in  this  particular  case,  because  the  candor  and  single-minded- 
ness  which  it  exhibits  are,  in  one  who  has  long  been  connected  in  the  most 
distinguished  manner  with  political  party,  so  rare  as  to  be  almost  incredible. 

"I  hope  to  derive  material  benefit,  at  some  more  tranquil  season,  from  a 
consideration  of  your  argument  throughout.  I  am  painfully  sensible,  when- 
ever I  have  occasion  to  reopen  the  book,  of  its  shortcomings,  not  only  of 
the  subject,  but  even  of  my  own  conceptions;  and  I  am  led  to  suspect 
that,  under  the  influence  of  most  kindly  feelings,  you  have  omitted  to 
criticise  many  things  besides  the  argument,  which  might  fairly  have  come 
within  your  animadversion. 

"In  the  meantime  I  hope  you  will  allow  me  to  apprise  you  that  on  one 
material  point  especially  I  am  not  so  far  removed  from  you  as  you  suppose. 
I  am  not  conscious  that  I  have  said  either  that  the  Test  Act  should  be 
repealed,  or  that  it  should  not  have  been  passed:  and  though  on  such 
subjects  language  has  many  bearings  which  escape  the  view  of  the  writer 
at  the  moment  when  the  pen  is  in  his  hand,  yet  I  think  that  I  can  hardly 
have  put  forth  either  of  these  propositions,  because  I  have  never  enter- 
tained the  corresponding  sentiments.  Undoubtedly  I  should  speak  of  the 
pure  abstract  idea  of  Church  and  State  as  implying  that  they  are  coexten- 
sive: and  I  should  regard  the  present  composition  of  the  State  of  the 
United  Kingdom  as  a  deviation  from  that  pure  idea,  but  only  in  the  same 
sense  as  all  differences  of  religious  opinion  in  the  Church  are  a  deviation 
from  its  pure  idea,  while  I  not  only  allow  that  they  are  permitted,  but 
believe  that  (within  limits)  they  were  intended  to  be  permitted.  There  are 
some  of  these  deflections  from  abstract  theory  which  appear  to  me  allow- 
able; and  that  of  the  admission  of  persons  not  holding  the  national  creed 
into  civil  office  is  one  which,  in  my  view,  must  be  determined  by  times 
and  circumstances.  At  the  same  time  I  do  not  recede  from  any  protest 
which  I  have  made  against  the  principle,  that  religious  differences  are 
irrelevant  to  the  question  of  competency  for  civil  office:  but  I  would  take 
my  stand  between  the  opposite  extremes,  the  one  that  no  such  differences 
are  to  be  taken  into  view,  the  other  that  all  such  differences  are  to  consti- 
tute disqualifications. 

"I  need  hardly  say  the  question  I  raise  is  not  whether  you  have  mis- 
^presented  me,  for,  were  I  disposed  to  anything  so  weak,  the  whole 
internal  evidence  and  clear  intention  of  your  article  would  confute  me: 
indeed,  I  feel  I  ought  to  apologize  for  even  supposing  that  you  may  have 


82  GLADSTONE:  A   BIOGRAPHICAL  STUDY. 

been  mistaken  in  the  apprehension  of  my  meaning,  and  I  freely  admit  on 
the  other  hand  the  possibility  that,  totally  without  my  own  knowledge,  my 
language  may  have  led  to  such  an  interpretation. 

"In  these  lacerating  times  one  clings  to  anything  of  personal  kindness 
in  the  past,  to  husband  it  for  the  future,  and  if  you  will  allow  me  I  shall 
earnestly  desire  to  carry  with  me  such  a  recollection  of  your  mode  of 
dealing  with  the  subject;  inasmuch  as  the  attainment  of  truth,  we  shall 
agree,  so  materially  depends  upon  the  temper,  in  which  the  search  for  it  is 
instituted  and  conducted. 

"I  did  not  mean  to  have  troubled  you  at  so  much  length,  and  I  have 
only  to  add  that  I  am,  with  much  respect, 

"Dear  Sir, 

"Very  truly  yours, 

"T.  B.  MACAULAY,  Esq."  "W.  E.  GLADSTONE." 

"To  this  letter  I  promptly  received  the  following  reply: 

"3  Clarges  Street,  April  nth,  1839. 
"My  Dear  Sir, 

"I  have  very  seldom  been  more  gratified  than  by  the  very  kind  note 
which  I  have  just  received  from  you.  Your  book  itself,  and  everything 
that  I  heard  about  you,  though  almost  all  my  information  came — to  the 
honor,  I  must  say,  of  our  troubled  times — from  people  very  strongly 
opposed  to  you  in  politics,  led  me  to  regard  you  with  respect  and  goodwill, 
and  I  am  truly  glad  that  I  have  succeeded  in  marking  those  feelings.  I 
was  half  afraid  when  I  read  myself  over  again  in  print,  that  the  button,  as 
is  too  common  in  controversial  fencing,  even  between  friends,  had  once 
or  twice  come  off  the  foil. 

"I  am  very  glad  to  find  that  we  do  not  differ  so  widely  as  I  had  appre- 
hended about  the  Test  Act.  I  can  easily  explain  the  way  in  which  I  was 
misled.  Your  general  principle  is  that  religious  non-conformity  ought 
to  be  a  disqualification  for  civil  office.  In  page  238  you  say  that  the 
true  and  authentic  mode  of  ascertaining  conformity  is  the  Act  of  Com- 
munion. I  thought,  therefore,  that  your  theory  pointed  directly  to  a 
renewal  of  the  Test  Act.  And  I  do  not  recollect  that  you  have  ever  used 
any  expression  importing  that  your  theory  ought  in  practice  to  be  modified 
by  any  considerations  of  civil  prudence.  All  the  exceptions  that  you 
mention  are,  as  far  as  I  remember,  founded  on  positive  contract — not  one 
on  expediency,  even  in  cases  where  expediency  is  so  strong  and  so  obvious 
that  most  statesmen  would  call  it  necessity.  If  I  had  understood  that 
you  meant  your  rules  to  be  followed  out  in  practice  only  so  far  as  might 


LORD  OF  THE  TREASURY  AND  AUTHOR.     83 

be  Consistent  with  the  peace  and  good  government  of  society,  I  should 
certainly  have  expressed  myself  very  differently  in  several  parts  of  my 
article. 

"Accept  my  warm  thanks  for  your  kindness,  and  believe  me,  with  every 
good  wish. 

"My  Dear  Sir, 

"Very  truly  yours, 

"T.  B.  MACAULAY." 
"W.  E.  GLADSTONE,  Esq.,  M.  P." 

Meantime  Gladstone  was  learning  the  fallacies  of  Toryism  by  other 
means.  Poor  Sir  John  Gladstone  was  preparing  to  say  of  Will- 
iam, when  the  time  of  the  Corn  Law  agitation  should  come :  "There 
stands  my  son,  helping  to  ruin  his  country."  Another  was  watching. 
The  exquisite  and  brilliant  Disraeli  was  waiting  for  a  chance  to  do  some- 
thing, and  Gladstone  was  slowly  but  surely  making  ready  to  leave  such 
room  in  the  Tory  mansion  as  would  grant  to  the  audacious  master  of 
words  an  excellent  front  apartment. 


CHAPTER  VII. 
A  GREAT  PROBLEM  IN  SIGHT. 

It  is  certain  that,  under  the  new  Government,  Ireland's  condition 
was  less  distressing,  and  Thomas  Drummond,  whom  Gladstone  in  many 
ways  admired  greatly,  almost  persuaded  England  that  ability  and 
courage  would  settle  the  question  without  much  legal  change.  Orange- 
men intimidated  Catholics  in  the  North,  and  the  Catholics  often  made 
things  disorderly  elsewhere.  Landlords  and  tenants  were  at  war,  and 
Drummond  acted  upon  the  principle  that  there  was  one  law  for  all. 
This  ought  not  to  have  seemed  remarkable,  but  it  was  a  new  view 
to  both  classes.  The  very  landlords  who  afterwards  were  outraged  at 
Gladstone  were  exasperated  now  with  Drummond.  O'Connell  looked 
upon  Drummond  as  "a  man  of  the  present,"  and  in  spite  of  Gladstone's 
insistence  and  his  friends'  reiteration  that  the  latter  could  not  be  any- 
thing but  a  Tory  believing  that  coercion  was  what  the  Irish  people 
needed,  O'Connell  still,  as  he  said,  "claimed  the  half  of  him  for  the 
future." 

.  Many  a  time,  in  after  years,  Gladstone  put  his  finger  upon  the 
words  of  Thomas  Drummond,  spoken  in  his  letter  to  the  magistrates 
of  Tipperary:  "Property  has  its  duties  as  well  as  its  rights."  True, 
the  magistrates  of  that  time  suppressed  the  letter  for  a  little  while,  but 
years  afterwards  it  seemed  to  be  embodied  in  flesh  and  blood  in  Glad- 
stone. 

In  1838  the  Poor  Law  was  passed,  and  one  of  the  main  causes  of 
discontent  was  removed,  and  Parliament  enacted  that  tithes  should 
not  be  levied  on  the  tenant,  but  rather  on  the  landlord. 

On  June  20,  1837,  tne  King  had  died  and  the  young  Victoria  was 
awakened  at  Kensington  to  meet  the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury  and 
the  Lord  Chamberlain,  who  told  her  of  her  uncle's  decease,  and  that 
she  was  to  be  crowned  Queen.  The  fact  that  the  Kingdom  of  Hanover 

84 


A  GREAT  PROBLEM  IN  SIGHT.  85 

could  not  pass  into  the  hands  of  a  female  sovereign  delivered  England 
of  all  problems  which  might  have  come  had  the  two  kingdoms  con- 
tinued under  one  head  as  hitherto.  Queen  Victoria  came  to  power  iirk 
mediately  after  her  uncle  left  the  world,  succeeding  a  man  who  at  last 
became  kind  and  good-natured  enough,  but  who  had  been  distinguished 
in  middle  life  by  a  blunt  stubbornness  which  oftentimes  became  a  little 
contemptuous  of  the  rights  of  others,  and  especially  irritated  at  what 
we  now  call  the  progress  of  mankind.  Victoria's  Coronation-day  was 
indeed  the  advent  of  another  spirit  in  English  life  which  the  young 
Queen  brought  with  her, — a  spirit  in  which  constitutional  government, 
enlivened  with  larger  sympathy  for  the  rights  of  the  people,  and  em- 
boldened with  the  largest  hope  for  better  days,  was  sure  to  thrive  and 
win  its  way.  Her  grace  and  beauty,  her  dignity  and  womanliness,  were 
all  able  to  obtain  for  her  a  popularity  which  grew  at  once  more  deep 
and  secure  because  of  the  conviction  which  delighted  England  that 
the  sovereign  was  a  woman  of  intellectual  power.  Parliament,  of  course, 
was  dissolved,  and  the  Queen  was  held  up  as  a  person  who  now  needed 
the  support  of  her  friends,  and  that  body  was  begged  to  send  in  a 
Government  which  she  would  like.  When  the  votes  were  counted,  the 
House  of  Commons  was  found  to  be  very  much  like  the  old  one.  The 
Whigs,  Radicals  and  Conservatives,  however,  came  up  from  the  coun- 
ties and  boroughs,  which  had  apparently  changed  their  political  com- 
plexion. The  party  decidedly  victorious  was  the  party  of  Daniel 
O'Connell. 

The  short  session  produced  almost  nothing  of  importance,  but  when 
Parliament  reassembled,  it  \vas  evident  that  everything  must  wait  for 
the  coronation  of  the  Queen.  London  was  crowded  upon  that  occasion 
only  as  it  was  crowded  sixty  years  later,  at  the  Diamond  Jubilee.  The 
Duke  of  Wellington  rode  amidst  a  storm  of  applause  and  cheers.  He 
was  at  the  very  height  of  his  popularity,  but  the  day  of  the  Duke's 
policy  was  passing.  The  day  of  a  battle  for  ideas  more  distinctly  im- 
portant to  England  than  the  battle  of  Waterloo  had  come.  Ireland  was 
everywhere  pressing  for  attention,  when  Parliament  opened  for  business. 
The  Government  had  to  resign  in  the  face  of  famine  and  discontent,  even 
in  England.  Sir  Robert  Peel,  who  had  the  management  of  her  ne.w  ad- 


86  GLADSTONE:  A   BIOGRAPHICAL  STUDY. 

ministration,  proposed  a  list  of  ministers  and  asked  that  certain  ladies 
who  had  been  related  to  the  Court  in  the  past — members  of  the  Queen's 
household — should  be  dismissed.  The  Queen  refused,  and  Sir  Robert 
declined  his  task.  Melbourne  tried  to  save  the  hour,  but  all  these 
things  were  pointing  only  in  one  direction, — privilege  and  class  were 
being  attacked,  and  popular  sympathies  were  gaining  the  day.  Lord 
Brougham  stirred  everybody  by  telling  the  ministers  that  they  had  lost 
the  confidence  of  the  House  of  Commons,  that  they  had  never  had  the 
confidence  of  the  House  of  Lords,  and  that  they  only  kept  the  faith  of 
the  Queen.  The  truth  was  that  England  did  not  want  these  gentlemen 
in  office.  They  could  not  carry  any  measures,  and  that  is  what  officials 
exist  for.  The  whole  realm  was  beholding  the  imbecility  of  a  Govern- 
ment standing  on  its  apex  instead  of  on  its  base.  Peel  had  no  respon- 
sibility, and  could  stand  off  and  wait,  while  the  Bedchamber  question 
was  inspiring  other  agitations  in  the  mind  of  England. 
Gladstone  wrote  in  1875  as  follows  on  the  former  subject: 
"It  was  a  question  whether  the  ladies  of  the  Court,  who  had  been 
politically  appointed,  should  or  should  not  retire  from  office.  The 
Queen,  not  yet  twenty  years  old,  but  capable  of  contracting  attach- 
ments at  once  quick  and  durable,  resisted  the  demand.  There  can  be 
no  doubt  that  if  Sir  Robert  Peel  had  been  allowed  at  that  time  to  pro- 
ceed with  his  task,  the  Ministry  he  would  then  have  formed  would  have 
been  possessed  of  reasonable  stability.  But  the  power  of  the  young 
Sovereign,  applied  with  the  skillful  use  of  opportunity,  sufficed  to  pro- 
long the  duration  of  the  Liberal  Government  until  the  summer  of  1841, 
a  period  of  nearly  two  and  a  half  years.  Its  exercise  produced,  at  the 
time,  no  revulsion  in  the  public  mind.  The  final  judgment  upon  the 
conduct  of  the  parties  to  the  crisis  has  been  more  favorable  to  the 
Minister  than  to  the  Monarch.  Baron  Stockmar  himself  has  expressed 
this  opinion.  But  the  question  specially  involved  was  the  claim  of  the 
woman  in  her  early  youth.  It  was  a  claim  of  which,  confined  within 
certain  limits,  equity  would  surely  have  recommended  the  allowance. 
Possibly  it  was  suspicion,  the  most  obstinate  among  the  besetting  sins 
of  politicians,  evsn  in  men  of  upright  nature,  which  interfered  on  the 
side  of  rigor." 


A  GREAT  PROBLEM  IN  SIGHT.  87 

In  the  course  of  the  winter  of  1838-39,  which  he  passed  in  Rome, 
he  had  met  Miss  Glynne,  daughter  of  Sir  Stephen  Richard  Glynne,  of 
Flintshire.  Gladstone  soon  sued  for  her  heart  and  hand,  and  their 
married  life  has  been  a  noble  witness  to  the  sacredness  and  sublimity  of 
perfect  affection. 

Gladstone  wrote  these  words  in  his  review  of  the  "Life  of  the  Prince 
Consort:"  "Happy  marriages,  it  may  be  thankfully  acknowledged, 
are  rather  the  rule  among  us,  than  the  exception;  but  even  among 
happy  marriages  this  marriage  was  exceptional,  so  nearly  did  the  union 
of  thought,  heart,  and  action  both  fulfill  the  ideal,  and  bring  duality  near 
to  the  borders  of  identity.  Not  uncommonly,  the  wife  is  to  the  husband 
as  the  adjective  is  to  the  substantive."  No  one  has  entertained  or  de- 
fended loftier  views  of  the  marriage  relation  than  he,  and  no  home  in 
England  has  furnished  brighter  or  dearer  pictures  to  our  age  of  the 
operation  of  those  forces  on  which  governments  as  well  as  homes  rest 
than  Hawarden  Castle. 

In  1841  Gladstone  again  found  himself  in  an  official  position.  A 
reform  had  been  inaugurated  in  the  Postoffke,  Parliament  had  con- 
stituted its  committee  on  education  and  left  the  management  of  that 
subject  in  its  hands  with  thirty  thousand  pounds  sterling,  the  Queen 
had  married  Prince  Albert  and  added  his  learning  and  poise  to  her  own 
accomplishments.  He  furnished  England  with  a  royal  gentleman — 
something  Englishmen  had  not  beheld  for  a  long  time.  Palmerston  had 
made  his  play  with  the  Spaniards,  and  then  with  the  Carlists,  who  had 
been  defeated.  The  war  between  the  Turks  and  Egyptians  had  broken 
out,  and  Palmerston  had  sought  to  strengthen  the  power  of  the  Sultan. 
The  Turk  had  been  overpowered,  the  poor  in  England  had  suffered  in 
spite  of  all  beneficial  legislation,  but  most  important  of  all,  the  Anti- 
Corn  Law  League  had  been  organized  and  was  prospering,  under 
Villiers,  Richard  Cobden  and  John  Bright.  The  Melbourne  ministry 
had  fallen  before  the  violence  of  English  opposition,  which  never  can 
tolerate  indebtedness  and  expenditure  unprovided  for  by  John  Bull, 
shopkeeper.  The  last  effort  to  handle  this  deficit  was  a  proposal  which 
agitated  the  whole  question  of  protection  and  free  trade.  Peel  had 
the  ear  of  England  when  he  said  that  such  a  Ministry  was  incapable  of 


88  GLADSTONE:  A   BIOGRAPHICAL  STUDY. 

handling  such  a  large  question.  Down  it  went,  and  Sir  Robert  Peel 
brought  to  his  help  William  Ewart  Gladstone,  whose  understanding 
of  the  "dismal  science"  of  political  economy,  whose  grasp  of  the  large 
principles  of  finance,  and  whose  lucidity  of  statement  when  it  was  neces- 
sary to  explain  these  principles  and  their  application,  were  unmatched 
in  all  the  realm.  It  is  well  to  understand  that  Sir  Robert  Peel  had 
proposed,  instead  of  a  duty  of  eight  shillings  per  quarter  on  wheat,  a 
sliding  scale,  and  on  this  question  an  appeal  had  been  made  to  the 
country.  To  Gladstone  had  been  given  the  post  of  Vice-President  of 
the  Board  of  Trade  and  Master  of  the  Mint.  It  is  to  be  noted  that  even 
at  this  period,  when  finance  demanded  so  much  attention,  Gladstone's 
interest  in  Ireland  was  pronounced,  and  he  had  wished  and  hoped  to  be 
sent  to  Dublin  Castle  as  Chief  Secretary.  We  have  it  upon  the  author- 
ity of  Mrs.  Gladstone  that  he  was  quite  depressed  by  his  new  appoint- 
ment, and  that  "from  the  very  outset  of  his  career  he  had  an  intense 
ambition  to  take  hold  of  the  Irish  question." 

The  first  Budget  of  the  new  Government  was  that  of  1842,  to  pre- 
sent which  involved  the  explanation  of  a  revised  tariff,  and  Mr.  Glad- 
stone had  to  make  exposition  in  answer  to  the  thousand  questions  of 
Parliament  upon  the  effect  of  this  tariff  on  more  than  a  thousand 
articles  of  trade.  The  principle  involved  the  reimposition,  for  a  term 
of  three  years,  of  the  income  tax.  There  was  certainly  necessity  for 
this,  or  for  something  like  it,  and  it  has  been  compared  with  the  income 
tax  which  Pitt  insisted  upon  as  necessary  to  carry  on  the  war  with 
France. 

Gladstone  stood  close  to  Peel  and  helped  to  carry  what  must  have 
seemed  a  continuously  recurring  deficiency.  The  young  financier 
insisted,  in  season  and  out  of  season,  upon  financial  reforms  which 
would  enable  England  to  get  resources  annually  of  increasing  propor- 
tions. There  was  a  large  element  of  protection  in  the  Budget;  and  it 
favored  home  manufactures  and  the  farmers.  Sternly  did  they  both 
refuse  to  make  any  large  reduction  of  the  duties  on  corn,  but  the  effect 
of  Cobden's  argument  and  the  utterances  of  Villiers  and  Bright  were 
already  manifest  in  the  fact  that  the  sliding  scale  on  this  topic  was 
modified.  It  was  a  distinct  movement  toward  free  trade,  and  yet  a 


A  GREAT  PROBLEM  IN  SIGHT.  89 

heroic  effort  to  clutch  at  protection.  It  is  doubful  if  Peel  could  have 
accomplished  his  act  of  stretching  from  one  point  to  another  and  hold- 
ing both,  even  with  the  slight  satisfactoriness  which  the  act  occasioned, 
if  it  had  not  been  for  Gladstone.  Fortunately  for  England's  opinion  of 
the  commercial  genius  of  this  son  of  the  Liverpool  merchant,  fortunately 
for  Peel's  administration,  fortunately  for  those  who  on  the  one  side 
thought  free  trade  had  obtained  too  little  and  those  who  on  the  other 
side  thought  free  trade  had  obtained  too  much,  prosperity  came  to  the 
realm,  and  Gladstone's  defense  of  the  Budget  appeared  to  be  even  a 
more  brilliant  prophecy  than  it  was  when  he  made  the  desert  of  finance 
blossom  as  the  rose,  by  his  eloquent  exposition. 

It  was  now  becoming  evident  to  sober  England,  that  Gladstone 
was  all  that  Sir  Robert  Peel  had  been,  with  a  still  livelier  imagination 
and  perhaps  a  greater  ability  to  hold  fast  to  the  revered  past  and  grasp 
the  rather  undesired  future.  He  was  a  greater  orator,  he  was  a  greater 
financier,  and  people  said  he  was  a  greater  "straddler."  In  Gladstone's 
case,  this  is  to  say  that  his  mind  was  comprehensive  enough  to  see 
that  evolution  in  opinion  is  the  law  of  all  progress;  and,  to  adapt  a 
saying  of  Douglas  Jerrold,  Gladstone  knew  it  is  not  profanity  of  the  old 
moon  to  indicate  one's  admiration  and  willingness  to  take  light  from 
the  new.  Tne  same  heavens  furnish  both. 

Together  were  Gladstone  and  Lord  Aberdeen  associated,  as  in  the 
previous  ministry,  and  together  they  dealt  with  the  affair  of  the  bound- 
ary between  the  English  colonies  and  the  United  States  and  labored 
to  promote  cordiality,  which  at  last  Guizot  and  Aberdeen  put  in  due 
form. 

It  is  most  interesting  to  find  that  here  Gladstone's  mind  was  de- 
voting some  of  its  best  hours  to  the  Irish  question.  In  Fitzpatrick's 
excellent  collection  of  the  letters  of  Daniel  O'Connell,  we  have  interest- 
ing information  with  regard  to  the  persons  who  embodied  at  that 
moment  a  spirit  with  which  Gladstone  would  have  much  to  do  in  later 
years.  The  Editor  says: 

"Old  politicians  will  remember  three  prominent  members — Colonel 
Verner,  Sibthorpe,  and  Perceval.  Two  of  the  trio  looked  as  if  they 
had  never  need  to  shave,  the  third  colonel  was  all  beard — a  most  un- 


90  GLADSTONE:   A   BIOGRAPHICAL   STUDY. 

usual  display  in  days  which  knew  not  a  full-bearded  Premier,  as  now. 
All  three  having  opposed  a  small  grant  to  Maynooth  College,  as  'sub- 
versive of  morality/  O'Connell  called  them  'the  Church  militant  of  the 
House/  and  raised  a  peal  of  laughter  by  concluding  with  a  parody  on 
Dryden's  verses. 

"  'Three  colonels  in  three  different  counties  born 
Did  Lincoln,  Sligo,  and  Armagh  adorn; 
The  first  in  gravity  of  face  surpassed, 
The  next  in  bigotry — in  both  the  last. 
The  force  of  Nature  could  no  further  go; 
To  beard  the  third  she  shaved  the  other  two.' 

"Canon  O'Rorke  in  his  'Life  of  O'Connell'  states  on  hearsay  (page 
249)  that  the  above  was  written  by  Ronayne,  who  showed  it  to  O'Con- 
nell merely  for  his  opinion." 

At  later  dates  Gladstone  found  it  necessary  to  keep  some  company 
which  in  the  earlier  Hours  of  his  career  he  might  not  have  looked  upon 
with  delight.  It  is  at  this  time  that  he  is  least  sure  he  has  found  his 
vocation  as  an  associate  of  Peel  in  Government.  He  writes  to  his 
intimate  friend: 

"My  Dear  Hope: —  ...  I  am  very  well  content  to  look  forward 
and  pack  up  my  things.  If  there  were  any  reasons  which  made  it  desir- 
able with  reference  to  the  future,  or  the  paulo-post  future,  that  I  should 
be  in  office  under  the  present  Government,  I  think  they  are  now  satisfied 
and  exhausted.  As  connected  with  trade,  I  am  certainly  a  cause  of  weak- 
ness and  not  of  strength  to  Sir  Robert  Peel  in  the  two  Houses  of  Parlia- 
ment. It  is  not  my  opinion  that  on  this  score  he  will  readily  part  with 
me:  but  it  removes  a  cause  of  regret  that  I  should  have  had,  if  the  case 
had  stood  otherwise.  And  I  do  not  think  that  another  session  or  two 
would  pass  without  my  exciting  more  mistrust.  I  am  strongly  and  pain- 
fully impressed  with  recent  disclosures  concerning  the  physical  state  of 
the  peasantry:  for  whose  sake  mainly,  as  my  notion  has  been,  we  have 
maintained  the  Corn  Laws.  Last  session  I  had  to  answer  a  speech  of 
Cobden's  on  this  subject,  five-sixths  of  which  I  should  have  been  glad  to 
have  spoken.  My  conviction  is,  that  our  course  in  these  matters  has  been 
generally  right — but  it  involves  progression,  and  it  is  a  high  probability 
that  one  bad  harvest,  or  at  all  events  two,  would  break  up  the  Corn  Law 


A  GREAT  PROBLEM  IN  SIGHT.  91 

and  with  it  the  party.  Hitherto,  it  has  worked  better  than  could  have  been 
hoped,  but  I  cannot  deny  that  it  is  a  law  mainly  dependent  on  the  weather. 
I  have  not  in  office  spoken  so  much  free  trade  as  Sir  Robert  Peel.  On 
the  contrary,  scarcely  anything  of  dogma  is  to  be  gathered  from  my 
effusions,  but  people  will  naturally  and  properly  bear  from  him  a  great  deal 
which  they  will  not  take  from  a  whipper-snapper. 

"The  purpose  of  Parliamentary  life  resolves  itself  with  me  simply  and 
wholly  into  one  question — Will  it  ever  afford  the  means  under  God  of 
rectifying  the  relations  between  the  Church  and  the  State,  and  give  me 
the  opportunity  of  setting  forward  such  a  work?  There  must  be  either 
such  a  readjustment,  or  a  violent  crisis.  The  present  state  of  discipline 
cannot  be  borne  for  very  many  years;  and  here  lies  the  pinch.  Towards 
the  settlement  of  money  questions  something  has  been  done  by  the  Church 
Commission  and  the  Government,  and  I  think  they  may  do  more. 

"As  to  the  general  objects  of  political  life,  they  are  not  my  objects. 
Upon  the  whole,  I  do  not  expect  from  the  good  sense  of  the  English 
people,  the  force  of  the  principle  of  property,  and  the  conservative  influence 
of  the  Church,  less  than  the  maintenance  of  our  present  monarchical  and 
parliamentary  circumstances:  And  I  do  not  flatter  myself  with  the  notion 
that  this  will  be  better  done  by  my  remaining  to  take  part  in  it.  But  the 
real  renovation  of  the  country  does  not  depend  upon  law  and  government: 
and  those  who  desire  to  take  part  in  the  work,  except  so  far  as  it  is  con- 
nected with  the  specific  readjustments  to  which  I  have  referred,  must,  I 
think,  seek  their  province  elsewhere. 

"Here  is  a  very  slight  and  naked  sketch.  If  I  were  to  fill  it  up,  I  should 
break  the  back  of  a  rickety  postman  who  daily  carries  the  Fettercairn  letters 
at  two  miles  an  hour  toward  Montrose. 

"Believe  me  always 

"Your  obliged  and  attached  friend, 

"W.  E.  GLADSTONE." 

Other  equally  able  men  have  felt  that  nothing  is  gained  by  overload- 
ing the  postman  at  such  times  as  these. 

As  a  young  man,  Gladstone  cordially  enjoyed  the  privilege  extended 
him  of  visiting  at  the  house  of  one  of  the  most  notable  of  England's 
bibliophiles,  the  Right  Honorable  Thomas  Grenville.  This  high- 
minded  benefactor  and  friend  of  all  who  love  literature  has  left  his 
name  forever  associated  with  the  ever-widening  influence  of  the  British 
Museum,  for  to  that  institution  he  gave  the  invaluable  collection  called 
The  Grenville  Collection.  He  had  been,  as  Gladstone  was  later.,  a 


92  GLADSTONE:    A   BIOGRAPHICAL   STUDY. 

Christ  Church  student  and  the  younger  scholar  shared  many  of  his 
tastes.  At  his  table,  Gladstone  was  made  acquainted  with  the  learning 
of  Macaulay,  the  wit  of  Sydney  Smith,  the  gravity  of  Hallam,  the 
geniality  of  Samuel  Rogers  the  poet-banker,  and  the  multifarious 
information  and  sincere  patriotism  of  a  fascinating  foreigner  who  was 
to  be  Librarian  of  the  British  Museum  and  who  was  to  be  known  also 
as  Senator  of  Italy,  and  Sir  Anthony  Panizzi,  K.  C.  B.  Grenville 
at  that  time  was  very  interesting  to  the  young  statesman.  Fox  had 
trusted  Grenville  with  arranging  the  terms  of  treaty  between  Great 
Britain  and  America,  after  the  separation.  He  had  been  sent  by  Earl 
Spencer  in  1794  as  Minister  Extraordinary  to  the  court  of  Vienna, 
and,  after  having  been  Privy  Councilor  and  Special  Ambassador  to  the 
court  of  Berlin,  he  had  become  Chief  Justice  in  Eyre  in  1800.  He  had 
seen  much  of  the  great  men  of  whom  he  talked  as  entertainingly  with 
Gladstone  as  with  the  elder  and  then  more  illustrious  members  of  the 
circle  of  friends  he  often  invited  to  dine  with  him  or  to  pass  a  day  or 
an  evening  with  him  and  his  books.  Gladstone  often  referred  to  the 
delight  with  which  this  or  that  gem  now  in  the  Grenville  collection 
in  the  British  Museum  was  welcomed  and  exhibited,  read  and  enriched 
with  notes  from  the  old  bibliophile's  hand,  for,  like  Gladstone  in  after 
life,  Grenville  permitted  no  curiosity  as  to  rare  tomes  to  keep  him  from 
enjoying  their  treasures.  Panizzi's  biographer  tells  us  that  Sydney 
Smith  "with  reverent  appreciation  remarked  to  Panizzi,  apropos  of 
the  host's  dignity  and  cheerfulness,  'There,  that  is  a  man  from  whom 
we  all  ought  to  learn  how  to  grow  old.'  "  Gladstone  truly  learned  the 
lesson  as  to  the  fact  that  a  green  old  age  is  as  secure  as  May  itself 
in  the  serene  companionship  of  books.  He  enjoyed,  even  as  a  young 
man,  the  old  man's  delight  as  he  gathered  the  twenty  thousand  volumes 
for  which  he  had  gladly  paid  nearly  fifty  thousand  guineas,  and,  in  the 
British  Museum  with  Sir  Anthony,  he  after  related  book-yarns  in  which 
Grenville,  many  years  before,  and  he,  later,  figured  as  one  who  had 
landed  a  rare  or  valuable  "find."  One  can  fancy  the  pleasure  to  Glad- 
stone of  such  association  as  would  invite  him  into  all  the  interesting 
conversation  consequent  upon  being  allowed  to  read  and  discuss  the 


A  GREAT  PROBLEM  IN  SIGHT.  93 

following  letter,  for  example,  which  Grenville  the  host  had  received 
from  the  bibliomaniac,  Panizzi: 

"B.  M.,  May  2,  1845. 
"My  Dear  Sir, 

"I  hope  you  will  do  me  the  honor  of  placing  in  your  library  a  Latin 
poem,  by  one  Thomas  Prati,  printed  at  Treviso  about  1475,  on  the  martyr- 
dom said  to  have  been  suffered  in  that  year  by  one  Simon  or  Symeon,  at 
the  hands  of  the  Jews  of  Trento.  The  event  seems  to  have  created  a  great 
sensation  at  the  time,  and  even  at  a  much  later  period  its  truth  has  been 
the  subject  of  learned  investigations. 

"It  may  be  true  that  a  boy  was  murdered  at  Trento  in  March,  1475.  but 
that  he  fell  a  sacrifice  to  the  Jews'  hatred  of  our  religion,  is  as  incredible 
as  it  is  unproved.  So  late  as  about  a  hundred  years  ago,  a  dissertation  was 
inserted  in  the  48th  volume  of  Calagiero  Raccolta  d'opuscoli,  page  409 
(De  cultu  Sancti  Simonis,  the  martyr,  has  been  canonized  and  his  life  and 
miracles  are  chronicled  in  the  Acta  Sanctorum  Pueri  Tridentini  et  Martyris 
apud  Venetos).  That  dissertation,  written  to  prove  the  truth  of  the  story, 
seems  to  me  conclusive  against  it. 

"Several  poems  are  said  to  have  been  written  on  this  subject.  One  of 
them  in  Italian  stanzas,  utterly  worthless,  by  one  Fra  Giovanno,  was  printed 
so  late  as  1690,  at  Padua,  and  is  in  the  British  Museum.  Federici  (Tipo- 
grafia  Trevigiana,  p.  91)  mentions  four  tracts  printed  by  Celerio  in  1480, 
on  the  martyrdom  of  Simon,  but  none  written  by  Prati.  He  moreover 
mentions  two  (p.  52)  printed  by  Gherard  de  Lysa,  one  of  which  would  seem 
to  be  precisely  like  that  which  I  now  offer  to  you,  if  we  were  to  judge  from 
the  title  only,  but  the  particulars  into  which  he  enters  show,  ist,  that 
Federici  never  saw  even  the  book  which  he  describes;  2nd,  that  whatever 
that  book  be,  it  is  a  different  one  from  this. 

"As  you  possess  the  very  rare  edition  of  Dante,  published  by  Tuppo, 
at  Naples,  in  the  colophon  of  which  Tuppo  alludes  to  the  murder  of  Simon 
'non  sono  molti  anni,'  and  as  the  fact  is  said  to  have  happened  in  1475, 
according  to  all  authorities,  it  may  be  of  some  interest  to  you  to  possess  an 
uncommonly  rare  book,  which  may  be  of  use  in  fixing  at  about  1480  the 
date  of  your  Dante,  the  very  year  when  Tuppo  began  to  print  separately 
from  Reussinger. 

"Yours,  etc.,  etc., 

"A.  PANIZZI." 

A  decade  afterward,  we  find  Gladstone,  although  apparently  over- 
whelmed with  other  labors,  coming  up  out  of  them  all  for  a  breath  of 


94  GLADSTONE:   A   BIOGRAPHICAL  STUDY. 

fresh  air,  as  was  his  wont,  and  writing  to  Panizzi,  as  though  there  were 
no  other  than  literary  questions  in  all  the  universe. 

Mr.  Gladstone,  writing  at  a  much  later  date,  to  the  son  of  his  old 
friend,  Lord  Aberdeen,  with  whom  he  was  closely  associated  in  Cabinet 
life,  said: 

"I  may  first  refer  to  the  earliest  occasion  on  which  I  saw  him;  for  it 
illustrates  a  point  not  unimportant  in  his  history.  On  an  evening  in  the 
month  of  January,  1835,  during  what  is  called  the  short  Government  of 
Sir  Robert  Peel,  I  was  sent  for  by  Sir  Robert  Peel,  and  received  from  him 
the  offer,  which  I  accepted,  of  the  Under-Secretaryship  for  the  Colonies. 
From  him  I  went  on  to  your  father,  who  was  then  Secretary  of  State  in 
that  department,  and  who  was  thus  to  be,  in  official  home-talk,  my  master. 
Without  any  apprehension  of  hurting  you,  I  may  confess  that  I  went  in 
fear  and  trembling.  I  knew  Lord  Aberdeen  only  by  public  rumor.  Dis- 
tinction of  itself,  naturally  and  properly,  rather  alarms  the  young.  I  had 
heard  of  his  high  character,  but  I  had  also  heard  of  him  as  a  man  of  cold 
manners,  and  close  and  even  haughty  reserve.  It  was  dusk  when  I  entered 
his  room — the  room  on  the  first  floor,  with  the  bow-window  looking  to 
the  Park — so  that  I  saw  his  figure  rather  than  his  countenance.  I  do  not 
recollect  the  matter  of  the  conversation;  but  I  well  remember  that  before 
I  had  been  three  minutes  with  him,  all  my  apprehensions  had  melted  away 
as  snow  in  the  sun;  and  I  came  away  from  that  interview  conscious  in- 
deed— as  who  could  fail  to  be  conscious? — of  his  dignity,  but  of  a  dignity 
so  tempered  by  a  peculiar  purity  and  gentleness,  and  so  associated  with 
impressions  of  his  kindness,  and  even  friendship,  that  I  believe  I  thought 
more  about  the  wonder  of  his  being  at  that  time  so  misunderstood  by  the 
outer  world,  than  about  the  new  duties  and  responsibilities  of  my  new 
office.  I  was  only,  I  think,  for  about  ten  weeks  his  under-secretary.  But 
as  some  men  hate  those  whom  they  have  injured,  so  others  love  those 
whom  they  have  obliged;  and  his  friendship  continued  warm  and  uninter- 
mitting  for  the  subsequent  twenty-six  years  of  his  life." 


CHAPTER  VIII. 
GLADSTONE  AND  SIR  ROBERT  PEEL. 

The  year  1843  brought  O'Connell  forward  with  his  proposal  for  the 
repeal  of  the  Union.  He  predicted  that  the  proposition  would  succeed 
in  the  course  of  the  year.  Monster  meetings  were  gathered,  and  while 
O'Connell  was  urging  his  compatriots  to  avoid  bloodshed,  he  was  ar- 
rested for  sedition  and  conspiracy.  A  jury  of  Protestants  convicted 
him,  and  he  was  fined  and  imprisoned.  Five  lawyers  in  the  House 
of  Lords  reversed  the  judgment  in  his  favor.  The  spirit  of  O'Connell 
was  broken,  because  his  health  was  in  no  way  able  to  support  the 
drafts  made  upon  his  power  and  he  had  no  impulse  for  a  new  agitation. 
Four  years  were  to  elapse,  as  he  quietly  went  down  the  hill  to  the 
grave,  passing  out  of  sight  in  1847.  England  continued  to  evict  tenants 
who  had  taken  the  bad  lands  of  Ireland  owned  by  landlords  in  England, 
and  made  them  rich  and  valuable,  and  of  course  Ireland  continued  to 
rebel  and  outrage  and  murder.  A  superficial  statesmanship — Peel  was 
always  master  of  this  kind  of  thing,  while  he  was  capable  of  far  better 
achievements — passed  a  law  forbidding  Irishmen  to  carry  arms  except 
by  special  license,  and,  to  equal  this  by  an  act  of  genuine  statesman- 
ship, he  issued  a  commission  to  inquire  into  the  causes  of  Irish  dis- 
content. 

Gladstone's  service  to  him  at  this  point  had  been  of  fie  greatest 
importance,  and  now  they  were  to  separate.  Peel  proposed  that  the 
Government  should  grant  to  the  College  of  Maynooth  an  increased 
amount  for  education.  Nothing  could  have  been  more  characteristic 
of  Sir  Robert  Peel  than  this  effort  to  conciliate  Irish  opinion.  At  this 
college  the  Roman  Catholic  priesthood  were  educated.  Nine  thousand 
pounds  had  been  spent  the  year  before;  it  was  now  proposed  that 
twenty-six  thousand  pounds  should  be  spent  there,  and,  further,  that 
the  laity  should  have  three  Queen's  colleges  for  unsectarian  education. 

95 


96  GLADSTONE:  A   BIOGRAPHICAL   STUDY. 

Gladstone  was  placed  in  a  perplexing  situation.  He  could  not  be 
accused  of  any  foolish  anti-Romanism,  but  he  was  the  author  of  a  work 
on  Church  and  State  and  he  was  trying  to  be  consistent  with  that 
production.  Sensitive  as  only  the  father  of  one  literary  child  may  be, 
he  beheld  everything  from  the  outlook  occupied  by  the  cradle  of  this 
infant  which  was  to  give  him  a  good  deal  of  difficulty,  as  his  opinions 
grew  and  his  outlook  widened  in  the  years  to  follow.  Besides,  he  had 
not  fully  considered  the  measure,  as  he  insisted.  Gladstone  has  often 
been  accused  of  postponing  the  consideration  of  certain  themes  be- 
cause they  involved  just  the  difficulties  presented  here.  It  was  a  good 
time  for  him  to  insist  upon  his  own  conscience,  and  yet  it  was  a  poor 
time  to  be  what  is  known  as  a  "crank,"  especially  if  the  basis  of  it  all 
was  the  fact  that  he  had  written  a  book  from  whose  decisions  robust 
common  sense  was  sure  to  lead  him  to  depart,  at  least  in  some  measure, 
by  and  by.  His  old  Eton  friend,  Manning,  who  was  yet  a  Protestant, 
urged  him  to  remain  in  Peel's  cabinet.  George  Cornewall  Lewis  and 
others  who  admired  Gladstone's  financial  genius,  and  Robert  Lowe, 
who  had  no  patience  whatever  with  Gladstone's  wasting  his  time  on 
ecclesiastical  matters,  urged  him  to  pause  before  he  threw  away  his 
time  and  gifts  as  a  financial  administrator  "on  a  mere  matter  of  religious 
agitation."  Gladstone,  however,  was  as  firm  in  his  purpose  as  if  he 
were  Bishop  of  London — an  office  which  many  of  his  most  intelligent 
admirers  believed  he  would  have  filled  as  none  other  had  ever  filled  it. 
He  resigned  and  sought  to  defend  the  act  with  that  turgid  and  indirect 
utterance  which,  we  are  bound  to  say,  has  betrayed  him  whenever  he 
has  forced  himself  or  been  forced  into  a  position  such  as  this.  He  now 
astonished  a  good  many  of  his  friends  by  saying  that  while  he  resigned 
his  place  in  the  Administration,  he  would  not  oppose  the  scheme  of  the 
Government  as  a  private  member.  He  afterwards  wrote: 

"My  whole  purpose  was  to  place  myself  in  a  position  in  which  I 
should  be  free  to  consider  my  course  without  being  liable  to  any 
just  suspicion  on  the  ground  of  personal  interest.  It  is  not  profane 
if  I  now  say  'With  a  great  price  obtained  I  this  freedom.'  The  political 
association  in  which  I  stood  was  to  me,  at  the  time,  the  alpha  and 
omega  of  public  life.  The  Government  of  Sir  Robert  Peel  was  be- 


GLADSTONE  AND  SIR  ROBERT  PEEL.  97 

lieved  to  be  of  immovable  strength.  My  place,  as  President  of  the 
Board  of  Trade,  was  at  the  very  kernel  of  its  most  interesting  opera- 
tions, for  it  was  in  progress  from  year  to  year,  with  continually  waxing 
courage,  toward  the  emancipation  of  industry,  and  therein  towards  the 
accomplishment  of  another  great  and  blessed  work  of  public  justice. 

Giving  up  what  I  highly  prized I  felt  myself  open  to  the 

charge  of  being  opinionated  and  wanting  in  deference  to  really  great 
authorities,  and  I  could  not  but  know  that  I  should  inevitably  be  re- 
garded as  fastidious  and  fanciful,  fitter  for  a  dreamer,  or  possibly  a 
schoolman,  than  for  the  active  purposes  of  public  life  in  a  busy  and 
moving  age." 

Overshadowing  all  this  is  the  fact  that  Gladstone  was  making  a 
tremendous  effort  to  be  consistent  with  his  book  on  Church  and  State. 
His  one  effort  to  be  consistent — a  state  of  mind  and  a  method  of  action 
which  his  critics  have  always  recommended  to  him,  even  with  fierce- 
ness— offers  results  which  indicate  how  much  more  grand  and  im- 
portant to  civilization  has  been  his  apparent  inconsistency. 

The  Greville  Memoirs  furnish  us  with  this  interesting  page  with 
reference  to  Gladstone's  resignation  from  Peel's  Cabinet  on  the  matter 
of  the  Maynooth  grant: 

"February  6th.  On  Tuesday  night,  for  the  first  time  for  some 
years,  I  went  to  the  House  of  Commons,  principally  to  hear  Glad- 
stone's explanation.  John  Russell  called  on  me  in  the  morning  and 
told  me  that  he  and  Palmerston  had  talked  over  French  politics,  and 
were  both  of  one  mind,  and  both  disposed  to  say  nothing  offensive  or 
hostile  to  France  or  Guizot.  Lord  John  spoke,  but  not  at  all  well, 
in  a  bad  spirit,  taunting  and  raking  up  all  subjects  of  bitterness,  accus- 
ing the  Government  of  inconsistency,  without  much  reason,  and  not 
very  wisely  or  fairly,  and  casting  in  their  teeth  expressions  which  he 
had  culled  out  of  old  files  of  the  Times.  His  speech  disappointed  me, 
but  it  afforded  Peel  an  opportunity  of  which  he  availed  himself  re- 
markably well,  and  his  retort  gave  him  all  the  advantage  of  the  night 
What  he  said  of  France  was  perfect,  excellent  in  tone  and  manner,  all 
that  Guizot  could  require  without  being  at  all  servile  or  even  accom- 
modating. Gladstone's  explanation  was  ludicrous.  Everybody  said 


98  GLADSTONE:   A   BIOGRAPHICAL   STUDY. 

that  he  had  only  succeeded  in  showing  that  his  resignation  was  quite 
uncalled  for. 

"Peel  put  an  end  to  any  mystery  about  his  measures  and  stated  in 
general  terms  all  he  intended  to  do.  The  Government,  however,  ex- 
pect a  good  deal  of  opposition  and  excitement  from  the  religious  part 
of  the  community,  Dissenters  and  Scotch.  Ashley  has  put  himself 
at  the  head  of  the  Low  Church  party,  and  will  make  a  great  clatter. 
Sandon  did  not  dare  accept  the  Board  of  Trade  and  seat  in  the  Cabinet, 
for  fear  of  disgusting  the  Liverpool  Protestants.  Such  is  the  fear  that 
men  have  of  avowing  their  real  sentiments  on  those  delicate  questions. 
Neither  Gladstone  nor  Sandon  have  really  any  objection  to  the  Govern- 
ment measures;  were  they  unfettered  and  uncompromised  they  would 
support  and  defend  them.  As  it  is,  they  do  not  dare  do  so,  and  thus 
they  mislead  others.  They  overlook  the  undoubted  fact  that  inferences 
will  be  drawn  by  others  as  to  their  opinions  the  reverse  of  the  truth, 
and  that  those  inferences  have  a  material  influence  upon  the  conduct 
of  those  who  draw  them.  Peel  told  Gladstone  beforehand  that  his 
explanation  would  be  considered  quite  insufficient  to  account  for  his 
conduct.  However,  in  his  speech  he  lavished  praise  and  regrets  upon 
him  in  a  tone  quite  affectionate.  He  was  in  a  very  laudatory  vein,  for 
he  complimented  the  mover  and  seconder  (Frank  Charteris  and  Tom 
Baring)  with  unusual  warmth." 

His  retirement  from  official  life  did  not  last  long.  He  had  sup- 
ported the  increased  grant  to  the  College  of  Maynooth,  and  had  escaped 
dropping  into  ecclesiastical  debates,  but  he  had  prepared  himself  most 
thoroughly  to  take  a  prominent  part  in  the  free  trade  struggle.  Peel 
now  saw  that  in  order  to  deal  successfully  with  Ireland  or  with  any 
other  territory,  he  must  attend  to  the  financial  processes  by  which 
England's  revenues  were  to  be  equal  to  her  expenditures.  This  re- 
quired a  firm  and  intelligent  hand.  The  income  tax  of  which  we  have 
spoken  poured  in  its  last  sovereign  at  the  end  of  three  years,  in  1845. 
Peel  persuaded  Parliament  to  give  him  three  more  years  of  the  same 
revenue.  He  found  himself  strongly  intrenched  with  the  aid  of  Glad- 
stone and  a  surplus.  Gladstone  insisted  that  trade  should  be  liberated 
by  the  taking  off  of  every  duty  on  imports  where  it  was  possible.  Free 


GLADSTONE  AND  SIR  ROBERT  PEEL.  99 

trade  was  coming,  and  Peel  and  he  made  every  effort  to  lower  other 
duties,  while  all  the  duties  on  exports  were  swept  away.  Of  course 
the  farmers  and  stockmen  stood  for  lard  and  hides,  and  insisted  that 
their  occupation  would  soon  be  gone  if  the  duties  on  these  articles  were 
removed.  The  potato  crop  in  Ireland  had  failed,  and  famine  gauntly 
looked  in  upon  the  British  Parliament.  The  Anti-Corn  Law  agitators 
were  gaining  everywhere  for  the  cause  of  unfettered  commerce.  John 
Bright  and  Richard  Cobden  kept  England  in  a  healthful  state  of 
thought  on  the  outside  of  Parliament,  and  Villiers,  within  the  House  of 
Commons,  urged  the  Anti-Corn  Laws  with  skill  and  strength.  The 
famine  grew  more  severe,  and  foreign  corn  went  into  Ireland  without 
restriction,  and  humanity  applauded.  Such  men  as  John  Stuart  Mill 
were  beginning  to  appreciate  the  situation  and  urge  a  juster  view  of 
Irish  affairs.  This  suddenly  imposed  study  of  affairs  led  Gladstone  to 
the  Irish  land  legislation  which  more  than  a  quarter  of  a  century  after- 
wards he  proposed. 

Peel's  Government  was  now  feeling  the  opposition  of  the  country. 
Even  yet  a  majority  of  the  middle  classes — the  brain  and  brawn  of  that 
England  to  which  Peel  and  Gladstone  always  lent  an  ear — rallied 
around  him.  There  now  arose  a  man  whose  very  nature  and  training, 
whose  brilliant  qualities  and  boundless  ambition,  whose  oratorical  gifts 
and  genius  for  theatrical  effect  enabled  him  during  almost  all  the  life 
of  Gladstone  either  to  organize  into  successful  garrison  of  defense  the 
Lords  and  other  timorous  and  well-intentioned  conservatives  on  the 
one  side  and  the  rabble  in  the  streets  on  the  other,  or  to  unite  into 
a  pursuing  battalion  the  malcontents  of  both  these  classes,  thus  im- 
peding or  harassing  such  legislation  as  looked  toward  a  broadening 
of  British  constitutional  government  and  the  strengthening  of  Eng- 
land's position  as  a  power  in  the  progress  of  humanity.  Benjamin 
Disraeli  knew  the  weak  point  of  Sir  Robert  Peel,  and  in  the  presence 
of  Peel's  somewhat  slow-going  qualities,  Disraeli's  rapidity  of  move- 
ment seemed  genius  itself.  This  fantastic  young  man  was  original 
enough  to  make  Peel's  solid  and  somewhat  heavy  qualities  appear 
positively  dull  before  the  radiance  which  the  young  literateur  threw 
upon  almost  everything  he  touched.  Disraeli  saw  that  Peel  held  the 


ioo  GLADSTONE:   A   BIOGRAPHICAL   STUDY. 

middle  classes  and  understood  their  tendencies.  In  the  middle  classes 
Disraeli  did  not  believe,  and  he  abhorred  their  tendencies.  As  he 
entered  politics,  he  was  the  same  supercilious  and  foppish  young  gentle- 
man who  appeared  in  the  drawing-rooms  and  in  the  portraits  which 
his  friends  kept  to  show  their  country  visitors.  He  saw  his  chance  for 
a  future;  he  discerned  an  opening  in  the  vacancies  of  the  Conservative 
household.  Gladstone  was  sure  to  leave  the  old  home  in  due  course 
of  time.  Here  was  a  young  man  able  at  one  and  the  same  time  to 
gather  together  the  leaderless  and  numerous  Conservative  malcon- 
tents, and  to  make  a  bold  and  strong  fight  against  the  Peel  party  and 
its  leader.  Peel  had  once  declined  to  let  him  have  office.  That  only 
stirred  his  soul  for  vindication.  He  would  make  his  way  by  another 
means  to  the  office  he  desired.  His  talk  upon  Peel's  Government  was 
singularly  shrewd  and  powerful.  Not  for  a  moment,  when  he  rode  out, 
panoplied  as  the  longed-for  knight  of  Conservatism,  did  he  compromise 
his  radical  convictions.  He  was  not  to  fail  to  keep  in  connection  with 
aristocracy  and  democracy.  Indeed  Disraeli  never  lost  touch  with  the 
crowd  of  half-fed  and  half-clothed  people — the  tramp  in  politics — with 
whose  nights  on  the  streets  and  with  whose  ability  to  create  a  tumult 
at  the  door  of  Parliament  Gladstone  had  to  reckon. 

Disraeli  had  a  past  to  get  over  much  more  annoying  than  Glad- 
stone's. For  long  years,  it  was  impossible  for  him  to  get  England  to 
take  him  seriously;  he  had  been  only  an  exquisite  fop  possessed  of 
genius.  The  recollection  of  his  first  speech  in  the  House  of  Commons 
was  abroad  in  the  land;  and  as  an  illustration  of  some  of  the  difficulties 
Gladstone's  chief  rival  had  to  surmount,  we  reprint  Disraeli's  effort  to 
speak — for  it  was  little  else.  Surely,  as  Gladstone  once  confessed,  a 
foe  in  debate  who  could  outlive  this  was  worthy  of  admiration.  Disraeli 
said: 

"I  stand  here  to-night,  sir,  not  formally,  but  in  some  degree  vir- 
tually, the  representative  of  a  considerable  number  of  Members  of 
Parliament.  (Bursts  of  laughter.)  Now,  why  smile?  (Continued 
laughter.)  Why  envy  me?  (Here  the  laughter  became  long  and  gen- 
eral.) Why  should  not  I  have  a  tale  to  unfold  to-night?  (Roars  of 
laughter.)  Do  you  forget  that  band  of  158  members — those  ingenuous 


GLADSTONE  AND  SIR  ROBERT  PEEL.  101 

and  inexperienced  youths  to  whose  unsophisticated  minds  the  Chan- 
cellor of  the  Exchequer,  in  those  tones  of  winning  pathos — (Excessive 
laughter  and  loud  cries  of  'Question!')  Now  a  considerable  miscon- 
ception exists  in  the  minds  of  many  members  on  this  side  of  the  House 
as  to  the  conduct  of  Her  Majesty's  Government  with  respect  to  these 
elections,  and  I  wish  to  remove  it.  I  will  not  twit  the  noble  lord  op- 
posite with  opinions  which  are  not  ascribable  to  him  or  to  his  more 
immediate  supporters,  but  which  were  expressed  by  the  more  popular 
section  of  his  party  some  few  months  back.  About  that  time,  sir,  when 
the  bell  of  our  cathedral  announced  the  death  of  the  monarch — (laugh- 
ter)— we  all  read  then,  sir — (groans  and  cries  of  'Oh!') — we  all  then 
read — (laughter  and  great  interruption) — " 

So  ended  the  laborious  endeavor.  He  then  promised  them  that  he 
would  be  heard.  He  had  now  redeemed  his  promise  and  the  gladiator 
was  on  his  feet.  Disraeli  made  England  believe  for  a  moment  that  he 
had  actually  "caught  the  Whigs  bathing  and  had  walked  away  with  their 
clothes,"  and  that  the  best  Peel  could  do  in  the  way  of  making  a  Con- 
servative Government  was  to  create  "an  organized  conspiracy." 

Disraeli's  tastes  were  not  likely  to  lead  him  to  foresee  the  power  of 
young  Gladstone,  whom  he  heard  speak  in  the  House  of  Commons  when 
the  latter  retired  from  the  presidency  of  the  Board  of  Trade,  in  Febru- 
ary, 1845.  Disraeli  writes:  "Gladstone's  address  was  involved  and  in- 
effective. He  may  have  an  avenir,  but  I  hardly  think  it."  Later  on 
Mr.  Disraeli  attended  an  Academy  dinner,  and  Mr.  Gladstone  sat  next 
to  him.  He  writes  at  this  time  that  he  found  him  "particularly  agree- 
able." 


*    CHAPTER  IX. 
THE  CORN  LAW  AGITATION. 

The  agricultural  population  was  by  this  time  in  deep  distress,  and 
protection  had  made  the  manufacturers  rich.  Peel's  sympathy  with 
free  trade  was  matched  with  Gladstone's,  and  both  believed  that,  be- 
cause there  were  more  consumers  than  there  were  producers,  and  be- 
cause producers  were  better  off  than  consumers,  who  were  usually  poor, 
legislation  ought  to  make  goods  cheap  for  the  sake  of  the  consumers 
rather  than  dear  for  the  sake  of  the  producers.  Here  was  the  matter  of 
corn.  It  was  evident  that  the  nation  would  be  better  off  by  letting 
corn  come  in  at  a  low  price  and  having  everybody  fed,  than  to  keep 
up  the  price  of  corn  by  the  imposition  of  duties  and  have  only  the 
producers  of  corn  able  to  eat  it.  Bright's  warm  oratory  and  Cobden's 
clear  logic  illuminated  these  propositions;  but  Peel  and  Gladstone 
were  not  yet  ready  to  forsake  their  position  that  Parliament  ought  to 
keep  up  the  price  of  corn  at  least  as  an  insurance  for  the  farmers  of  a 
future  time,  and  not  for  the  benefit  of  living  Englishmen.  This  meant 
that  they  saw  Great  Britain  woulcl  have  to  depend  for  her  food  upon 
foreign  countries  at  some  time.  War  some  day  might  make  England 
hungry.  But  here  was  actual  hunger  staring  them  in  the  face  at  the 
present  time.  The  starving  people  of  the  present  would  not  down 
before  the  possibly  starving  people  of  the  future.  There  was  no  reason 
to  suppose  that  this  present  starvation  in  England  could  be  done  away 
with  unless  corn  could  come  in  free.  And  now  Peel's  position  was  made 
for  him  by  force  of  a  resistless  event:  eight  million  people  in  Ireland 
had  been  living  on  potatoes,  and  one  night  the  potato  plants  became 
black  and  corrupt.  Misery  brought  its  argument  to  Sir  Robert  and 
his  Cabinet,  and  it  conquered. 

In  October,  he  asked  his  Cabinet  to  support  him,  for  he  wished  to 
remove  the  duty  from  corn.  Lord  John  Russell  opposed  him  with 

1 02 


THE  CORN  LAW  AGITATION.  103 

all  his  force.  The  Cabinet  refused.  Peel  resigned,  and  Lord  Russell 
was  called  to  constitute  an  administration.  He  found  it  impossible. 
Peel  returned  to  office,  with  Gladstone,  upon  whom  he  leaned  as  the 
strongest  and  best  debater  of  free  traders  among  the  Tories.  Glad- 
stone was  Home  Secretary  for  the  Colonies,  but  his  marvelous  financial 
genius  gave  all  its  learning  in  service  to  his  chief,  while  Peel  wrestled 
with  the  problem  as  to  the  repealing  of  the  Corn  Law.  Lord  Stanley, 
whom  we  shall  know  soon  as  Lord  Derby,  now  resigned  and  led  the 
Protectionists  in  opposition  to  Peel.  But  a  change  was  imminent. 
Lord  Russell  came  over  to  the  side  of  Peel,  bringing  the  Whigs  with 
him. 

January,  1846,  came,  and  Peel  proposed  to  bring  in  a  bill  for  the 
abolition  of  the  Corn  Laws.  By  the  first  of  July  the  bill  had  triumphed 
in  the  Commons  and  in  the  Lords,  and,  though  it  took  three  years  to 
complete  the  abolition,  the  Corn  Laws  were  repealed.  The  most 
advanced  statesman  on  this  question  in  the  Cabinet  of  Sir  Robert  Peel, 
and  altogether  the  most  skillful  swordsman  in  defense  of  this  position 
was  none  other  than  Gladstone.  He  was  great  enough  to  serve  his 
chief.  In  a  later  period  his  presence  was  more  manifest,  but  there  could 
be  no  doubt  but  that  Gladstone  was  the  right-hand  man  of  the  Prime 
Minister  in  the  carrying  of  this  measure,  and  out  of  Parliament  as  he 
was,  his  learning  and  industry  wrought  immeasurably  toward  the  de- 
feat of  the  ancient  folly  which  employs  artificial  means  to  keep  up  the 
price  of  human  food. 

When  Gladstone  accepted  the  office  of  Secretary  of  State  for  the 
Colonies  he  sent  an  address  to  those  who  had  elected  him  from  the 
Newark  borough.  He  said: 

'TBy  accepting  the  office  of  Secretary  of  State  for  the  Colonies  I 
have  ceased  to  be  your  representative  in  Parliament.  On  several  ac- 
counts I  should  have  been  peculiarly  desirous  at  the  present  time  of 
giving  you  an  opportunity  to  pronounce  your  constitutional  judgment 
on  my  public  conduct  by  soliciting  at  your  hands  a  renewal  of  the  trust 
which  I  have  already  received  from  you  on  five  successive  occasions, 
and  held  during  a  period  of  thirteen  years.  But,  as  I  have  good  reason 
to  believe  that  a  candidate  recommended  to  your  favor  through  local 


104  GLADSTONE:   A   BIOGRAPHICAL    STUDY. 

* 

connections  may  ask  your  suffrages,  it  becomes  my  very  painful  duty 
to  announce  to  you,  on  that  ground  alone,  my  retirement  from  a  posi- 
tion which  has  afforded  me  so  much  honor  and  satisfaction." 

This  was  an  excellent  opportunity  for  him  to  leave  his  old  friends 
with  the  best  of  feelings.  But  Mr.  Gladstone  was  no  longer  a  repre- 
sentative of  Newark.  Moreover,  he  was  finding  other  views  developing 
in  his  mind  to  which  he  knew  the  Duke  of  Newcastle.,  dear  old  friend 
and  ardent  supporter  as  he  had  been,  could  not  be  expected  to  offer 
his  agreement.  It  was  therefore  well  that  Gladstone  sent  such  an  ad- 
dress to  the  electors.  The  truth  is  that  in  the  year  1845  ne  nad  given 
some  exposition  of  new  views  on  the  subject  of  the  Irish  Established 
Church.  It  was  very  evident  that  Mr.  Gladstone  no  longer  stood  by 
the  fixed  Toryism  of  the  Duke  of  Newcastle  and  Sir  John  Gladstone 
on  this  subject.  "Yes,"  said  the  proud  father,  "William  has  ability; 
but  has  he  stability?"  Surely  not  on  this  or  any  question,  if  stability 
means  mental  immovableness.  Eighteen  hundred  and  forty-five  seems 
a  long  while  ago  when  we  contemplate  what  Gladstone  has  done  for 
Ireland,  but  it  was  in  a  letter  to  Bishop  Wilberforce  at  this  time  that 
he  gave  clearest  statement  as  to  the  honest  doubt  out  of  which  better 
faith  grew.  He  said: 

"I  am  sorry  to  express  my  apprehension  that  the  Irish  Church 
is  not  in  a  large  sense  efficient;  the  working  results  of  the  last  ten 
years  have  disappointed  me.  It  may  be  answered,  'Have  faith  in  the 
ordinance  of  God;'  but  then  I  must  see  the  seal  and  signature,  and 
how  can  I  separate  these  from  ecclesiastical  descent?  The  title,  in  short, 
is  questioned,  and  vehemently,  not  only  by  the  Radicalism  of  the  day, 
but  by  the  Roman  Bishops,  who  claim  to  hold  the  succession  of  St. 
Patrick;  and  this  claim  has  been  alive  all  along  from  the  Reformation." 

It  was  well  for  those  who  were  watching  the  growth  of  Mr.  Glad- 
stone's statesmanship  to  remember  that  while  Peel's  Ministry  was  clos- 
ing, while  Indian  corn  brought  cheaply  to  Ireland  was  relieving  some- 
what of  its  distress,  while  public  works  were  inaugurated  to  furnish 
a  living  to  Irish  laborers,  Gladstone  saw  the  injustice  of  compelling 
these  people  to  support  a  church  in  which  they  did  not  believe  at  all, 
and  for  which  they  had  no  use,  either  in  this  world  or  in  the  next. 


THE  CORN  LAW  AGITATION.  105 

Meanwhile  landlord  and  tenant  were  outraging  one  another,  one  with 
the  law  on  his  side,  the  other  without  law,  and  Peel  was  compelled  to 
bring  in  a  bill  for  the  protection  of  human  life  in  Ireland.  Lord  Russell 
and  his  contingent  opposed  its  stringency.  Disraeli,  standing  behind 
the  dignified  figure  of  Lord  Bentinck,  offered  a  powerful  and  stinging 
opposition;  and  so  successful  was  this  antagonism,  that,  on  the  very 
day  on  which  the  Corn  Law  Bill  triumphed  in  the  House  of  Lords, 
the  Irish  Bill  was  defeated  in  the  House  of  Commons.  Two  days  after- 
wards Peel  resigned  his  position. 

Lord  John  Russell  was  forming  a  new  Ministry,  assured  as  he  was 
of  the  support  of  Peel  and  Gladstone.  Just  at  this  time  Ireland  was 
seen  standing  and  weeping  over  the  body  of  one  who  had  been  called 
"the  big  beggar-man" — the  great  orator  and  prophet  of  Ireland's  bet- 
ter day — Daniel  O'Connell.  It  was  remarkable  that  at  that  grave  Ire- 
land was  quiet  and  orderly.  The  derision  of  puny  enemies,  the  noisy 
hate  of  bigoted  Protestants,  the  blustering  antagonism  of  respectable 
ignorance,  all  vanished  away,  and  one  eye  at  least,  the  eye  of  William 
E.  Gladstone,  saw  in  the  behavior  of  Ireland,  while  the  body  of  O'Con- 
nell was  being  lowered  into  its  last  resting-place,  a  hope  that  a  wiser 
and  juster  statesmanship  than  had  hitherto  been  applied  to  the  Irish 
difficulty  might  win  this  hot-headed  and  rebellious  people  into  some- 
thing like  loyal  support  to  the  hopes  and  aims  of  the  British  Empire. 

Soon  it  was  known  that  the  potato  crop  in  Ireland  was  an  entire 
failure  again,  and  that  Peel's  efforts  to  give  a  job  to  every  Irishman 
who  needed  it  had  been  greatly  abused.  Public  works  had  not  been 
created  save  at  a  loss  of  respect  for  law  and  a  regard  for  honesty.  The 
roads  upon  which  the  laborers  had  lounged  and  dug  were  worse  than 
ever,  and  private  employers  had  found  the  distraction  of  being  unable 
to  compete  with  public  authorities  in  paying  wages.  Gladstone  assisted 
Russell  with  all  his  might  to  check  these  evils.  He  was  not  in  the 
House  of  Commons,  but  elsewhere  he  was  in  work  up  to  his  eyes  for 
a  better  day  in  Ireland  and  England. 

The  autumn  session  of  1847  found  him  in  the  House  of  Commons 
again.  Oxford  University  had  returned  him  and  he  had  before  him 
eighteen  years  in  which  to  represent  them.  Every  taste  of  his  nature 


xo6  GLADSTONE:  A   BIOGRAPHICAL   STUDY. 

was  delighted  with  the  prospect.    Except  for  the  tumult  in  his  blood 
and  the  growing  ferment  of  ideas,  he  may  now  prepare  to  grow  more 
learnedly  and  happily  conservative.     Instantly  he  was  compelled  to 
consider  and  defend  a  bill  for  enabling  the  guardians  of  the  poor  to 
give  outdoor  relief.    This  relief  had  been  forbidden  in  1839,  but  now 
the  poor-houses  were  surrounded  with  people  needing  food,  and  for 
every  three  inside,  there  were  a  hundred  persons  starving  outside.  Dis- 
raeli was  developing  his  sneer  again,  which  he  visited  upon  much  that 
was  dear  to  the  heart  of  human  progress,  while  Gladstone  was  develop- 
ing strength  of  conviction  to  deal  with  a  problem  deeper  than  any  Poor 
Law  could  reach  in  Ireland.    No  amount  of  mercy  can  atone  for  delayed 
justice.    English  charity  could  not  remedy  the  state  of  things  to  the 
helping  of  which  America  offered  an  eager  and  affectionate  hand,  and 
three  millions  of  the  Irish  people  perished.     There  was  no  avoiding 
the  fact  that  neither  peace  nor  prosperity  would  be  satisfied  until  the 
legal  relations  between  landlord  and  tenant  were  altered.     The  8,000 
pounds  left  after  mortgages  of  9,000  pounds  had  been  taken  from  the 
entire  rental  of  17,000  pounds,  could  not  feed  the  Irish  poor  and  sup- 
port and  pay  the  debts  of  the  landlords.     The  tenants  were  almost 
crushed  beneath  the  demands  of  the  landlords  who  were  tempted  by 
their  debts  to  oppress  them.     Improvements  in  land  and  in  property 
by  the  tenant  did  not  often  result  in  anything  but  a  demand  on  the  part 
of  the  landlord  that  the  tenant  should  pay  a  higher  rent  or  be  evicted. 
Gladstone  behaved  as  a  merchant's  son  from  Liverpool  gradually  shak- 
ing off  Oxford,  or  as  an  Oxonian  happily  forgetful,  oftentimes,  that 
he  had  the  interests  of  Liverpool  merchandise  to  be  looked  out  after. 
He  was  growing  to  be  larger  and  truer  than  either,  or  both,  to  the 
higher  destinies  of  the  English  people.    Now,  however,  came  the  ques- 
tion upon  which  he  could  easily  show  himself  a  narrow  bigot  or  a 
liberal  statesman. 

Here  and  now  came  an  opportunity  for  the  liberalizing  forces  in 
Gladstone's  mind  to  assert  their  power.  The  city  of  London  had  re- 
turned Baron  Rothschild  as  her  representative  in  the  House  of  Com- 
mons. Gladstone  nobly  responded  to  the  demand  of  the  hour  and 
maintained  "that  if  they  admitted  Jews  into  Parliament,  prejudice 


THE  CORN  LAW  AGITATION.  107 

might  be  awakened  for  a  while,  but  the  good  sense  of  the  people  would 
soon  allay  it,  and  members  would  have  the  consolation  of  knowing  that 
in  a  case  of  difficulty  they  had  yielded  to  a  sense  of  justice,  and  by  so 
doing  had  not  disparaged  religion  or  lowered  Christianity,  but  had 
rather  elevated  both  in  all  reflecting  and  well-regulated  minds." 

A  motion  in  favor  of  Jewish  privileges  was  carried  and  Oxford  was 
alarmed  as  to  the  sanity  of  her  representative  and  son. 

One  thing  at  this  time  was  becoming  clear  to  him — the  importance 
of  England's  position  in  Christendom.  To  this  matter  he  gave  much 
thought.  He  said,  on  this  theme: 

"The  political  power  of  England  is  great;  but  its  religious  influence 
is  limited.  The  sympathies  even  of  Nonconforming  England  with 
Continental  Protestantisms  are,  and  must  be,  partial;  the  dominant 
tone  and  direction  of  the  two  are  far  from  identical.  The  Church, 
though  in  rather  more  free  contact  than  our  Nonconforming  bodies 
with  the  learning  of  Protestant  Germany,  is  of  course  more  remote 
from  its  religious  tendencies.  The  Latin  communion  forces  the  Church 
of  England  more  and  more  into  antagonism;  and  we  are  only  beginning 
to  sound  the  possibilities  of  an  honorable,  but  independent,  relation 
of  friendship  with  the  East.  In  matters  of  religion,  poetry  might  still 
with  some  truth  sing  of  the  penitus  toto  divisos  orbe  Britannos.  We 
of  all  nations  have  the  greatest  amount,  perhaps,  of  religious  indi- 
viduality, certainly  of  religious  self-sufficiency.  A  moral,  as  well  as  a 
natural,  sea  surrounds  us;  and  at  once  protects  and  isolates  us  from 
the  world.  But  this  is,  of  course,  in  a  sense  which  is  comparative,  not 
absolute.  The  electric  forces  which  pervade  the  Christian  atmosphere 
touch  us  largely,  outer  barbarians  though  we  be;  and  they  touch  us 
increasingly.  And  a  multitude  of  circumstances  make  us  aware  that, 
if  we  are  at  least  open  to  criticism  as  our  neighbors,  yet  we  have  like 
them  a  part  to  play  in  Christendom,  and  a  broad  field  to  occupy  with 
our  sympathies,  under  the  guidance  of  such  intelligence  as  we  may 
possess." 

It  is  interesting  to  take  from  Gladstone's  own  pen  some  account 
of  his  position  in  1847.  He  is  speaking  of  the  emancipation  which 
was  effected  from  the  net  in  which  he  had  been  bound  on  the  subject 


io8  GLADSTONE:   A    BIOGRAPHICAL    STUDY. 

of  the  Church  and  State,  especially  on  the  Irish  Church  Question.    He 
says: 

"In  1846  it  was  suggested  to  me  that  I  should  oppose  a  member 
of  the  newly-formed  Government  of  Lord  John  Russell.  In  my  reply, 
declining  the  proposal,  I  wrote  thus  to  the  late  Duke  of  Newcastle: 
'As  to  the  Irish  Church,  I  am  not  able  to  go  to  war  with  them  on  the 
ground  that  they  will  not  pledge  themselves  to  the  maintenance  of  the 
existing  appropriation  of  church  property  in  Ireland.'  This,  however, 
was  a  private  proceeding. 

"But,  early  in  1847,  Mr.  Estcourt  announced  his  resignation  of  the 
seat  he  held,  amidst  universal  respect,  for  the  University  of  Oxford. 
The  partiality  of  friends  proposed  me  as  a  candidate.  The  representa- 
tion of  the  University  was,  I  think,  stated  by  Mr.  Canning  to  be  to 
him  the  most  coveted  prize  of  political  life.  I  am  not  ashamed  to  own 
that  I  desired  it  with  almost  passionate  fondness.  For  besides  all  the 
associations  it  maintained  and  revived,  it  was  in  those  days  an  honor 
not  only  given  without  solicitation,  but,  when  once  given,  not  with- 
drawn. The  contest  was  conducted  with  much  activity  and  some  heat. 
I  was,  naturally  enough,  challenged  as  to  my  opinions  on  the  Estab- 
lished Church  of  Ireland.  My  friend  Mr.  Coleridge,  then  young,  but 
already  distinguished,  was  one  of  my  most  active  and  able  supporters. 
He  has  borne  spontaneous  testimony,  within  the  last  few  weeks,  to  the 
manner  in  which  the  challenge  was  met: 

"  'Gentlemen,  I  must  be  permitted — because  an  attack  has  been 
made  upon  Mr.  Gladstone,  and  it  has  been  suggested  that  his  con- 
version to  his  present  principles  is  recent — to  mention  what  is  within 
my  own  knowledge  and  experience  with  regard  to  him.  In  1847,  when 
I  was  just  leaving  Oxford,  I  had  the  great  honor  of  being  secretary  to 
his  first  election  committee  for  that  university  and  I  well  recollect,  how, 
upon  that  occasion,  some  older  and  more  moderate  supporters  were 
extremely  anxious  to  draw  from  him  some  pledge  that  he  should  stand 
by  the  Irish  Church.  He  distinctly  refused  to  pledge  himself  to  any- 
thing of  the  kind.'  " 

The  year  1848  witnessed  the  agitation  in  Parliament  of  the  demand 
that  the  expenditure  of  the  nation  should  be  brought  down  to  the  level 


THE  CORN  LAW  AGITATION.  109 

of  the  nation's  receipts.  Commerce  and  manufacturers  had  suffered, 
and  protectionists  rejoiced  that  this  was  a  witness  to  the  truth  of  their 
theory  as  to  the  disaster  sure  to  be  brought  about  by  free  trade. 
Gladstone  and  Disraeli  found  themselves  on  different  sides  when  Sir 
Robert  Peel  supported  the  ministers  and  when  Gladstone  defended  his 
faith  in  that  financial  system  which  has  the  income  tax  as  its  chief 
feature.  Disraeli  pretended  to  be  blind  to  the  great  difficulties  under 
which  England  labored  in  the  distressing  condition  of  affairs  in  all  the 
realm.  Cobden  outstripped  Gladstone  himself  in  his  plea  for  direct 
taxation,  and  influenced  Gladstone  greatly  in  the  effort  to  remove  any 
inequalities  in  the  income  tax.  France,  meanwhile,  was  suffering  the 
throes  of  a  revolution.  Everywhere  in  Europe  the  malcontents,  and 
especially  the  Irish  malcontents,  who  were  against  the  government, 
wherever  it  was,  and  whatever  it  was  at  that  time,  seized  upon  the 
fancy  that  this  might  be  another  French  Revolution  where  the  hopes 
of  the  discontented  could  at  least  have  full  utterance.  The  acknowl- 
edgment of  this  feeling  simply  produced  a  series  of  repressive  measures 
to  which  the  English  Government  did  not  like  to  resort.  There  was 
no  O'Connell  now  to  advise  caution  and  peace  when  Ireland  became 
violent.  The  danger  of  Ireland's  rising  in  bloody  rebellion  was  met 
by  the  fear  Ireland  had  at  that  moment  that  those  who  were  doing  all 
the  talking  and  threatening  could  not  possibly  help  Ireland,  if  indeed 
Ireland  were  to  be  separated  from  England.  Therefore  most  of  the 
Irish  men  acquiesced  when  Mr.  Smith  O'Brien,  the  leader  of  the  mal- 
contents, was  transported.  Constructive  and  far-sighted,  Mr.  Gladstone 
labored  with  Lord  John  Russell  and  the  Government  to  bring  forward 
measures  which  were  conceived  for  the  purpose  of  remedying  affairs 
in  Ireland.  It  was  almost  impossible  to  get  the  Irish  people  to  hear 
any  plan  for  a  gradual  relief  of  suffering,  or  any  kind  of  improvement 
of  the  situation  save  that  which  could  be  brought  about  by  separation. 
Lord  John  Russell  said  he  was  helpless.  He  insisted  that  the  Protest- 
ants of  Ireland  had  the  right  to  an  Established  Church.  He  went  over 
the  obstacles  in  the  way  of  establishing  a  Roman  Catholic  Church  in 
the  same  territory.  Lord  Russell  proposed  a  bill  known  as  the  En- 
cumbered Estates  Act,  proposing  to  sell  estates  that  were  deeply  mort- 


no  GLADSTONE:  A   BIOGRAPHICAL   STUDY. 

gaged,  and  hoping  that  tenants  thereby  might  be  better  treated.  He 
insisted  that  the  landlords  should  compensate  evicted  tenants  for  im- 
provements they  had  made,  and  the  member  from  Oxford  stood  by  him 
in  his  wish  to  introduce  a  clause  forbidding  any  landlord  to  evict  a  tenant 
if  that  tenant  had  held  land  under  certain  conditions  and  had  made 
improvements.  Gladstone's  Tory  friends  admonished  him  that  this 
was  not  to  be  borne  by  Oxford. 

It  was  impossible  to  keep  the  revolution  of  1848,  which  shocked 
all  Europe,  from  creating  a  timidity  in  the  mind  of  English  statesmen- 
ship  which  expressed  itself  in  English  legislation.  Chartists  had  risen 
in  England,  and  the  working-classes  seemed  ready  to  imitate  the 
laborers  in  the  French  nation,  and  they  were  crying  for  a  people's 
charter,  granting  them  something  approaching  a  republic  in  England. 
Now,  statesmanship  had  to  deal  with  the  English  laborer  as  it  had 
failed  to  deal  successfully  with  the  Irish  laborer.  The  influence  of  the 
Reform  Bill  of  years  before  had  been  to  broaden  the  franchise  and 
create  in  the  minds  of  Englishmen  the  idea  of  governmental  responsi- 
bility. Those  who  opposed  the  reform  bill  had  sought  such  representa- 
tion, even  in  the  first  reformed  Parliament,  as  would  state  the  progress 
of  popular  government.  Some  of  the  working  classes  were  greatly 
disappointed  in  the  slender  share  of  benefits  which  they  obtained  from 
the  reform  bill.  The  indolent  and  the  intelligent  united;  the  clean  and 
the  unclean  fused,  and  the  moral  force  chartists  and  the  physical  force 
chartists  confronted  English  legislation  with  various  principles  embody- 
ing the  same  purpose.  For  ten  years  now  this  agitation  had  voiced  the 
ideas  which  would  have  made  England  a  laborer's  republic,  if  they  had 
been  adopted. 

Mr.  Gladstone  was  not  unintelligent  of  these  movements  and  lent 
his  great  services  to  the  Government  as  this  scheme  proceeded  toward 
its  wreck.  Meantime  Lord  George  Bentinck'  died,  and  Gladstone's 
great  rival,  Disraeli,  was  recognized  as  the  only  leader  worthy  of  the 
attention  of  his  party. 


CHAPTER  X. 
THE  VALOROUS  CHURCHMAN. 

In  the  decade  previous  to  this  date,  and  especially  within  the  three 
years  preceding,  Mr.  Gladstone's  ecclesiastical  and  literary  tendencies  led 
him  to  express  his  convictions  on  a  variety  of  subjects,  and  there  is  no 
surer  way  of  appreciating  the  growth  of  a  great  man  in  various  ways, 
than  by  a  careful  study,  such  as  the  size  of  this  volume  unhappily  will 
not  permit  us  to  make,  of  Mr.  Gladstone's  literary  work  in  this  period. 
Let  us  confine  ourselves  to  one  line  of  his  publications — those  on 
church  affairs.  They  show  the  religious  basis  of  his  faith  in  constitu- 
tional government  in  England,  and  this  when  England's  mind  was 
confused.  Writing  of  one  of  his  essays  thirty-five  years  after  the  date 
of  its  publication,  he  says:  "There  is  something  of  a  sanguine  crudity 
in  this  essay."  He  adds:  "It  must,  however,  serve  as  a  part  of  the  mater- 
ial history  of  a  critical  period  which  will  have  finally  to  be  written."  The 
period  is  that  of  the  Oxford  movement  which  the  "Edinburgh  Review" 
sought  to  explain  in  1838  and  again  in  the  year  1843.  Gladstone  made 
an  apology  for  dealing  with  the  subject,  calling  it  "sacred  ground," — a 
phrase  he  would  scarce  have  used  in  later  life,  and  he  pleaded  that  the 
"rapid  growth  of  the  question  in  its  importance  and  pressure  upon  the 
minds  of  men  and  the  immense  moment  of  its  issues,"  was  reason 
enough  why  he  should  approach  it  as  he  did,  "with  the  deepest  impres- 
sion, that  in  the  present  condition  of  church  charity  founded  upon  a 
sense  of  our  Christian  brotherhood,  forbearance,  and  considerate,  fair 
thought,  are  the  very  first  requisites  of  a  useful  discussion  of  her  con- 
cerns, and  if  we  positively  offend  against  this  rule,  we  have  thus  sup- 
plied at  the  outset  the  means  of  judging  us  out  of  our  own  mouth." 
This  somewhat  too  elaborate  statement  of  a  fact  which  no  one  would 
question  is  testimony  of  the  condition  of  Gladstone's  mind  at  that  time, 
and  his  mental  method.  He  has  not  been  flippant  with  anything; 

in 


112  GLADSTONE:   A   BIOGRAPHICAL   STUDY. 

scarcely  has  he  had  a  light  touch  for  any  subject;  he  began  life  seriously 
and  he  has  lived  seriously  while  thinking  on  all  subjects  with  equal  in- 
tensity and  care.  Gladstone  never  could  think  of  the  Oxford  move- 
ment which  influenced  him,  as  "little  more  than  a  feeble,  casual  and 
desultory  effort  of  the  enthusiasm  or  caprice  of  a  small  knot  of  persons." 
This  was  the  "Edinburgh  Review's"  estimate  of  it,  but  it  is  given  in 
Gladstone's  language.  The  latter  is  quite  excited  as  he  thinks  that 
people  such  as  read  the  "Edinburgh  Review"  may  underestimate  the 
testimony  "afforded  to  the  magnitude  in  which  the  subject  now  pre- 
sents itself  to  the  public  eye,  to  its  comprehensive  range,  and  the  search- 
ing nature  of  its  influences."  Gladstone  gravely  says:  "The  stone  has 
grown  into  a  rock,  if  not  a  mountain.  In  places  and  in  publications, 
usually  the  most  abhorrent  of  religious  discussion,  force  of  circum- 
stances has  compelled  the  discussion  of  some  notice  of  these  contro- 
versies." Here  we  see  the  Gladstone  of  1843.  He  is  delighted  that, 

"on  several  occasions  during  the  past  year,  while  the  Factory  Edu- 
cation clauses  were  before  the  House  of  Commons,  the  increasing 
prevalence  of  Catholic  sentiments  in  the  Church,  has  formed  a  prom- 
inent topic  in  the  debates  of  that  assembly;  the  lower  organs  of  the  press 
are  loud,  and  of  course  extravagant,  in  their  statements  of  the  progress 
of  the  contagion;  and  even  the  philosophic  radicalism  of  the  'West- 
minster Review'  has  condescended  to  notice  the  matter,  with  censure 
full  of  apprehension  and  alarm." 

It  is  the  Oxford  man,  unforgetful  of  the  charm  of  John  Henry  New- 
man and  the  others,  speaking,  when  he  calls  attention  to  the  fact  that 
some  ten  years  before  "four  or  five  clergymen  of  the  University  of 
Oxford  met  together,  alarmed  at  the  course  of  Parliamentary  legisla- 
tion with  respect  to  the  Church,  at  the  very  menacing  and  formidable 
attitude  of  dissent,  in  its  alliance  with  Liberalism,  and  at  the  dis- 
position manifested  in  the  establishment  itself,  to  tamper  with  the  dis- 
tinctive principles  of  its  formularies."  There  is  a  gravity  almost  humor- 
ous, as  we  look  back  from  the  point  of  view  occupied  by  the  Grand  Old 
Man,  who  marshaled  dissenters  as  he  could  no  other  class,  upon  those 
circumstantial  events  which  he  restores  to  history.  Out  of  those  events 
were  coming  the  famous  "Tracts  for  the  Times."  It  is  the  churchman, 


E.  G.  STANLEY 


THE  RIGHT  HONORABLE  THE  EARL  OF  ABERDEEN,  K.G. 


THE  VALOROUS  CHURCHMAN.  113 

and  the  Oxford  churchman,  and  the  churchman  who  after  fifty  years 
did  have  the  deepest  interest  in  the  Pope's  opinion  of  the  validity  of 
Dean  Farrar's  ecclesiastical  orders,  who  tells  us  that  the  movement  had 
no  help  from  "secular  power,"  "Episcopal  sentence,"  "courtly,  aristo- 
cratic, or  popular  influences."  He  compares  the  secession  with  a  like 
event  in  the  history  of  the  Scottish  Revolution,  and  he  says:  "The 
English  Church,  put  upon  her  mettle,  has  shaken  off  the  conventional 
and  secular  influences  which  clothes  her  in  an  Erastian  disguise,  and 
has  lighted  up,  with  the  rapidity  of  wildfire,  the  blazing  title  of  Catho- 
licity upon  her  brow." 

Certainly  this  is  lively  writing,  even  for  an  advanced  English 
churchman.  The  conclusion  of  it  all  is  that  the  Oxford  movement 
was  "a  development  from  within  of  something  rooted  in  the  mind  and 
sense  of  the  Church  itself."  It  was  something  "not  proceeding  from 
fortuitous  causes,  not  colored  by  individual  caprice,  nor  by  merely 
individual  genius,  piety,  or  learning,  but  a  tribute  providentially  sup- 
plied to  the  imperious  necessities  of  the  time,  whose  emphatic  language 
sounded  in  the  ears  of  the  English  Church,  bidding  her  either  to  de- 
scend from  her  high  place  or  else  to  assert  its  prerogatives,  discharge  its 
duties."  He  adds: 

"It  was  impossible  for  her  any  longer  to  stand  in  the  public  opinion 
upon  the  grounds  of  political  utility,  of  national  tradition,  of  an  accom- 
modating tone  of  doctrine,  too  long  and  too  widely  prevalent,  which, 
instead  of  rousing  dead  consciences  like  a  trumpet,  made  itself  in  a 
certain  sense  agreeable  and  popular,  by  humming  and  lulling  into 
deeper  slumbers.  Administrative  abuses,  such  as  non-residents,  plurali- 
ties, and  the  progressive  reduction  of  sacraments  and  other  services,  had 
reached  a  most  frightful  height ;  and  the  progress  of  reforms,  late  begun, 
for  some  time  appeared  to  be  so  slow,  that  it  was  to  be  feared  the  scythe 
of  the  destroyer  might  overtake  them,  and  remove  the  abuse  and  the 
thing  abused  together.  The  clergy  were,  as  a  body,  secular  in  their 
habits;  and,  unless  in  individual  instances,  had  fallen  altogether  below 
the  proper  level  of  their  lofty  calling,  although  they  continued  to  be 
much  above  that  of  general  society." 

Carlyle  had  called  the  Church  a  sham,  and  Gladstone  saw  hope  in 


ii4  GLADSTONE:  A   BIOGRAPHICAL   STUDY. 

this  movement,  which,  in  1833,  commenced  to  infuse  new  life  by  in- 
sisting upon  faithfulness  to  old  principles,  and  thus  making  the  Church 
something  else  besides  a  sham.  As  Gladstone,  a  few  years  later,  thinks 
of  it  all,  looking  back  upon  the  efforts  of  such  saintly  men  as  Dr.  Blorn- 
field,  he  says  "that  something  which  brought  great  personal  zeal,  new 
forms  of  association  into  existence  alone  was  valuable."  But  the 
power  which  was  to  save  and  bless  was  not  the  old  Puritanical  scheme 
of  the  evangelicals.  His  friend,  Mr.  Scott,  he  believes  would  have 
brought  the  Church  of  England  closer  to  John  Calvin  theologically, 
but  the  Church  wanted  something  more  than  a  new  theological  posi- 
tion, and  he  adds: 

"The  popular  divinity  of  thirty  years  ago,  although  it  had  indeed 
many  recommendations  in  comparison  with  that  which  it  resisted  and 
displaced  and  although  it  sprang  from  the  vivid  reawakening  of  relig- 
ious instincts  and  desires,  yet  did  not  spring  out  of,  nor  stand  in  har- 
monious relations  with  those  principles  which  belonged  to  the  consti- 
tution of  the  Church,  and  did  not  avail  to  secure  for  those  principles, 
and  that  constitution,  their  proper  place  in  the  Christian  system.  And 
thus  the  restorative  process,  which  we  rejoice  to  honor  even  in  its 
crude  commencement,  was  both  narrow  in  its  extent,  and,  what  was 
worse,  faulty  in  its  quality,  because  it  did  not  comprehend  the  elements 
necessary  for  its  own  permanent  immunity  from  the  deteriorating 
influences." 

Mr.  Gladstone  could  not  look  upon  the  Oxford  movement  but  as  a 
"link  in  the  great  chain  of  causes  and  effects,  by  which  the  mind  of  this 
country  has  now,  for  half  a  century  and  more,  been  made  the  subject 
of  so  remarkable  and  of  so  general  a  religious  progression  and  devel- 
opment." He  thought  that  "to  have  the  smallest  share  in  impelling  the 
movement  of  which  we  speak,  was  indeed  an  honor;  to  have  had  a 
greater  share  in  directing  it,  a  surpassing  crown;  to  have  marred  it  by 
temerity  or  excess,  among  the  heaviest  of  sorrows."  It  is  no  wonder 
that  his  friends  thought  him  about  ready  to  go  with  Father  Newman, 
but  he  was  too  masterful  of  his  own  personality  to  fail  here.  While 
the  Oxford  movement  was,  as  he  said,  "the  infallible  sequel  and  com- 
plement of  the  work  of  religious  renovation,"  the  larger  movement  lay 


THE  VALOROUS  CHURCHMAN.  115 

in  learning  its  lesson,  and,  using  all  its  force,  perhaps,  was  to  accomplish 
a  wider  result.  It  is  a  terrible  indictment  which  he  draws  against  the 
Church  of  England  of  that  moment,  yet  he  believes  that  there  is  a  way 
to  be  churchly  and  Christian  and  thoroughly  moral  without  leaving  the 
Church  of  England  and  going  over  to  Rome.  He  talks  of  the  Roman 
Church  in  excellent  words: 

"We  are  in  honor  bound  to  do  justice  to  her  antiquity,  to  the 
benefits  which  we  ourselves  received  at  her  hands,  to  the  firmness  with 
which  she  has  ever  contended  in  behalf  of  the  Catholic  Creeds,  to  the 
profound  and  comprehensive  wisdom  that  pervade  many  of  her  institu- 
tions, to  the  high  and  noble  degrees  of  saintly  perfection  that  have  been 
attained  within  her  pale.  And  yet  we  are  not  so  to  speak  as  to  incur 
the  risk  of  aiding  to  mislead  others  by  these  glowing  recitals;  as  it  is 
to  be  feared  we  do  aid,  unless  we  join  with  them  the  most  marked  and 
definite  notice  of  the  frightful  evils  which  deform  her  system.  These,  it 
is  to  be  observed,  are  not  merely  evils  within  her  pale,  but  evils  which 
she  seems  to  take  to  her  bosom  and  to  cherish  there;  which  have  estab- 
lished themselves  about  the  very  seat  and  organs  of  life,  and  which 
the  better  elements  of  her  nature  have  not  energy  sufficient  to  eject. 
The  practical  withholding  or  stinting  of  the  Divine  Word;  the  fearful 
tampering  with  the  attribute  of  God,  by  extravagant  regard  to  crea- 
tures; the  grossness  of  her  purgatorial  system,  as  represented  in  the 
actually  prevailing  tone  of  her  authorized  and  ordinary  pastoral  teach- 
ing and  discipline;  the  tyranny  of  her  impositions  of  tenets,  not  revealed, 
upon  the  consciences  of  men;  and  her  schismatical  usurpations  of  the 
rights  and  claims  of  other  Churches;  all  these  are  topics,  concerning 
which  to  speak  slightly,  is  by  implication  to  betray  the  truth  of  God, 
and  to  expose  the  souls  of  our  brethren  to  terrific  peril." 

It  would  seem  that  he  had  little  anticipation  here  of  ever  being  able 
to  do  much  on  any  Irish  question  with  the  consent  of  the  Roman 
Church.  Later  on  he  was  still  more  fearless  as  he  examined  the  Vatican 
decrees.  He  appreciated  the  state  of  confusion  out  of  which  a  man 
could  utter  criticisms  of  either  the  Church  of  England  or  the  Church  of 
Rome,  and  he  was  willing  to  agree  that  something  more  positive  than 
criticism  ought  to  be  offered  by  the  critic.  He  says: 


Ii6  GLADSTONE:  A   BIOGRAPHICAL   STUDY. 

"It  certainly  indicates  a  state  of  great  moral  disorder  in  the  Chris- 
tian world,  when  individuals  without  authority  bring  charges  against 
the  most  extended  of  Christian  Churches,  that  she  tampers  with  the 
attributes  of  God  by  the  toleration  and  the  parent  encouragement  of 
idolatrous  regard  to  creatures.  If  the  accusation  is  false,  no  words  can 
express  its  guilt;  if  it  be  true,  yet  still  it  seems  too  great  a  weight  for 
the  private  person  to  carry,  a  weapon  not  intended  for  his  arm  to 
wield.  Sad  is  the  necessity  which  requires  such  things  to  be  said  at 
all;  sadder  yet,  if  in  such  modes.  He  that  utters  them  should  at  least 
join  with  the  active  utterance  every  sobering  and  chastening  reflection, 
that  may  prevent  it  from  becoming  an  act  of  self-glorification." 

Dr.  Newman's  ninetieth  tract  is  not  passed  without  remark,  and 
Gladstone  could  only  mention  the  lesson  which  was  taught  to  those  who 
would  believe  the  Church  of  England  in  her  present  form  to  be  equal 
to  the  conflict  with  evil.  He  felt  that  unbelief  had  cooled  the  ardor  of 
her  heart,  and  he  says: 

"Those  who  argue  for  the  Catholicity  of  the  Church  of  England 
in  all  points  which  relate  to  her  constitution  and  rites,  to  her  view  of 
the  Episcopate  and  the  sacraments,  found  themselves  upon  the  tone  of 
her  authorized  formularies  in  order  to  make  good  their  case.  But,  un- 
doubtedly, there  are  those  within  her,  and  even  within  the  order  of  her 
"priesthood,  who  do  not  scruple  to  assert  in  some  cases  so  much  as  that 
the  Episcopate,  the  ministry,  and  the  visible  framework  of  the  Church, 
are  human  institutions;  and  even  in  the  teeth  of  the  Catechism  ap- 
pointed to  be  taught  to  all  our  young  persons,  that  the  new  birth  unto 
righteousness  is  not  the  proper  inward  part  of  the  sacrament  of  Bap- 
tism, and  that  the  Body  and  Blood  of  Christ  are  not  really  received 
by  the  faithful  in  the  holy  Eucharist." 

The  fact  stood  out  bare  and  bold  that  the  Catholic  Church  on  the 
one  side  had  actual  charge  of  a  large  number  of  human  beings,  and 
the  English  Church,  on  the  other  side,  had  lost  hold  entirely  on  another 
great  section  of  humanity.  For  these  two  churches  to  enter  into  com- 
munion was  most  desirable,  but  Gladstone  was  sure  that  communion 
with  the  Church  of  Rome  was  impossible.  He  says: 

"Her  whole  scheme  of  operations  is  founded  upon  her  exclusive 


THE  VALOROUS  CHURCHMAN.  117 

pretensions,  and  upon  the  assertion  of  the  illegitimacy  of  all  Churches 
not  under  her  jurisdiction.  Everywhere,  therefore,  in  their  territories, 
she  appears  as  an  intruder  and  an  aggressor;  and  the  admission  of  her 
supreme  control  is  made  by  her  the  first  condition  of  intercourse.  In 
fact,  it  is  not  a  question  of  communion,  but  of  subjection;  and  for  any 
other  Church  to  acknowledge  the  present  claims  of  Rome  is  to  disown 
herself,  her  own  acts,  her  own  children,  dead  as  well  as  living,  her 
relation  to  her  Lord.  Nor  is  this  any  mere  point  of  earthly  honor, 
any  contest  of  simple  dignity  or  precedence;  in  lowering  to  her  the 
fasces,  we  should  admit  the  practical  sway  of  her  dictatorship.  We 
should  be  called  on  to  make  those  additions  to  the  Catholic  and  Apos- 
tolic Creed,  which  she  has  been  bold  enough,  under  Pope  Pius  IV.,  to 
attach  to  it.  Or,  if  she,  from  charity  or  policy,  would  excuse  our  im- 
mediate adoption  of  them,  the  exemption  should  be  one  durante  bene- 
placito  alone,  and  revocable  at  her  will.  Nor  do  we  see  what  permanent 
guarantee  for  any,  even  the  smallest,  degree  of  spiritual  liberty  she  could 
furnish,  so  long  as  the  preposterous  claim  of  infallibility  continues  to  be 
made,  as  we  have  seen  it  recently  made  in  official  documents,  by  the 
incumbent  of  the  Papal  See." 

It  is  astonishing  to  those  of  us  who  live  in  the  sober  evening  of  the 
nineteenth  century,  after  Gladstone's  contemporaries,  Huxley,  Darwin 
and  Spencer,  have  lived  and  wrought,  after  others  have  drawn  away 
some  of  the  millinery  from  apparently  sacred  objects,  to  see  a  man  of 
such  reasoning  capacity  in  such  a  gale  of  excitement  about  the  necessity 
of  certain  people  understanding  certain  other  people  about  the  church 
services  and  the  like.  He  says: 

"It  may  be  true,  that  there  is  at  this  moment  a  Romanizing  school 
in  the  Church  of  England.  These  are  men,  who  are  not  content  with 
respecting  or  revering  Catholicity  in  the  Church  of  Rome,  but  who 
take  her,  such  as  she  is,  in  the  mass,  for  a  standard  of  imitation,  and 
would  have  the  Church  of  England  made  like  her,  at  least  so  far  as 
might  be  necessary  in  order  to  re-establish  communion  with  her.  They 
are  unable  to  fix  their  affections  upon  the  Church  of  England,  such  as 
she  is  in  the  mass;  but,  while  sincerely  respecting  and  revering  the 
Catholicity  or  vestiges  of  Catholicity  that  they,  find  in  her,  neverthe- 


Ii8  GLADSTONE:   A    BIOGRAPHICAL    STUDY. 

less  recoil  from  the  anti-Romish  elements  with  which  that  Catholicity 
is  combined,  and  pay  to  her,  as  a  whole,  a  loveless  and  constrained,  even 
if  a  punctual  and  conscientious  allegiance." 

Surely  the  Oxonian  could  not  well  go  further  than  this.  He  goes 
trotting  on  interestingly  to  the  very  edge  of  the  brook,  and  refuses  to 
jump.  He  certainly  underestimated  the  power  which  other  men  had 
at  that  time  and  their  willingness  to  take  the  leap.  He  says: 

"It  may  be,  that  the  teaching  of  this  school,  as  it  has  perhaps  already 
helped  to  produce,  so  will  hereafter  from  time  to  time  aid  in  producing, 
defections  from  the  Church  of  England  of  erratic  and  ill-balanced  minds ; 
of  minds  wanting  that  searching  truth  of  perception,  and  vigor  of  deter- 
mination which  all  times,  the  times  of  confusion  most  especially,  re- 
quired. But  as  to  bringing  the  millions  of  this  Church  and  nation  into 
harmony  with  actual  Rome,  in  our  view,  the  perversion  of  Mr.  Sibthorp 
and  a  few  more,  does  not  abridge  even  one  inch  of  the  all  but  immeas- 
urable distance  at  which  if  any  where  within  the  bounds  of  possibility, 
such  an  event  is  set.  We  will  not  allow  that  there  is  the  minutest  symp- 
tom, the  faintest  or  most  shadowy  indication,  of  any  impression  of 
such  a  kind  upon  the  English  mind." 

Newman  and  Manning  and  Hope-Scott  are  names  amidst  a  mul- 
titude of  nimble-footed  figures,  and,  withal,  high-minded  men.  Glad- 
stone certainly  longed  for  a  spiritual  revival.  He  says: 

"That  effort  for  spiritual  revival,  of  which  we  have  spoken,  aims  at 
assimilation,  not  to  Rome,  but  to  something  quite  distinct,  something 
higher  and  better  than  Rome;  to  that  original  of  which  Rome  is  a 
mutilated  copy,  that  standard  which  she  seems  with  us  to  acknowledge, 
but  beneath  which  we  both,  though  in  different  degrees  and  modes, 
have  sunk.  May  we  not  redeem  our  own  shortcomings  without  adopt- 
ing hers?  The  end  proposed  is  that  end  which  this  Church  acknowl- 
edges; the  means  employed  are,  walking  in  the  path  of , her  ordinances, 
and  cherishing  the  spirit  that  pervades  them.  In  pursuing  such  an  end, 
by  such  means,  we  can  only  approximate  to  Rome  where  she  approxi- 
mates, or  shall  approximate,  to  truth.  We  must  remove  farther  and 
farther  from  her,  where  she  departs  from  it.  And  if  it  be  a  duty  to 


THE  VALOROUS  CHURCHMAN.  119 

desire  and  hope  for  such  removal,  with  surely  at  least  equal  earnestness 
should  we  labor,  yearn  and  pray  for  such  approximation." 

This  was  the  burden  of  his  heart,  and  no  doubt  the  sincere  desire 
of  his  spirit.  At  that  very  time  the  retraction  of  Newman  from  what 
seemed  extreme  positions  taken  against  Protestantism  had  compelled 
attention,  and  many  journals  reprinted  the  collection  of  those  very  fierce 
attacks  which  he  made  upon  the  evils  of  Romanism.  Gladstone  in- 
sisted that  his  English  friends  had  the  right  to  desire  "that  he  ought 
more  exactly  to  define  what  he  proposes  to  substitute  for  Protestantism 
thus  withdrawn."  The  answer  to  all  this  ultimately  came,  and  John 
Henry  Newman  became  Father  Newman  of  the  Roman  Catholic  com- 
munion. Gladstone  closed  his  really  comprehensive,  though,  as  he 
says,  sanguinely  crude  study  of  the  question,  with  these  words: 

"And  now  we  have  done  with  our  mighty  theme.  The  brain  almost 
reels  at  the  magnitude  of  the  interests,  and  therefore  of  the  hazards, 
involved  in  it.  It  has  been  our  desire  to  handle  it  with  a  freedom  pro- 
portioned to  the  necessities  of  the  case,  but  not  exceeding  them.  If 
towards  any  communion,  Protestant  or  unreformed,  towards  any  per- 
son of  whatever  station  or  whatever  sentiments,  we  have  entertained 
convictions  or  uttered  language  wanting  in  charity,  or  respect,  we 
acknowledge  the  heaviness  of  the  fault,  and  implore  pardon.  And, 
at  least,  we  cannot  draw  the  curtain  upon  the  sad  picture  of  Christian 
division  and  dissension,  without  beseeching  the  reader  to  offer  up  to 
God  the  fervent  prayer,  that  the  afflicting  contemplation  of  such  a  scene 
may  inspire  him  with  the  resolution  to  'seek  peace  and  ensue  it'  in 
the  vineyard  of  the  Lord  on  earth;  and,  if  he  cannot  here  enjoy  his 
soul's  desire,  then,  that  he  may  be  moved  by  the  prevailing  discord  the 
more  manfully  to  press  towards  the  mark  for  the  prize  of  entering  that 
rest,  wherein  the  unclouded  presence  of  God  shall  enlighten  His  people, 
and  His  unity  shall  enfold  them  for  evermore." 

He  had  written  a  fierce  indictment  against  the  English  Church,  and 
a  fierce  indictment  against  the  Roman  Church  and  State,  yet  amidst  the 
storm  and  shell  against  both,  men  like  Newman  and  Manning  were 
passing  from  one  into  the  other.  Gladstone  almost  alone  saw  that  Eng- 
land was  needing  a  revival  of  genuine  religion. 


CHAPTER  XL 
OXFORD'S  REPRESENTATIVE. 

In  1849  tne  Government  proposed  the  repeal  of  the  Navigation  laws. 
The  commercial  interests  of  England,  to  which  the  son  of  the  Liver- 
pool merchant  was  always  attentive,  were  not  the  only  interests  in- 
volved in  this  discussion.  Yet  Gladstone's  support  was  most  effective, 
and  it  indicated,  how  clearly  he  saw  at  that  time  that  England  is  the 
home  of  a  seafaring  people,  and  London  must  be  the  exchange-place 
of  the  merchants  of  the  world  because  of  England's  position  in  matters 
affecting  shipping.  Yet  there  was  more  than  this  in  Gladstone's  mind. 
He  was  bound  to  realize  his  ideas  of  making  the  sea  "That  great  high- 
way of  nations,  as  free  to  the  ships  that  traverse  its  bosom  as  the  winds 
that  sweep  over  it."  In  the  same  year  he  presented  his  argument  on  the 
question  of  paying  indemnity  to  those  who  had  lost  property  in  the 
Candian  riots.  Here  he  announced  his  conviction  that  "The  House 
of  Commons  has  a  perfect  right  to  be  heard  and  to  be  obeyed  in  im- 
perial concerns."  This  was  the  statement  of  his  faith  as  to  the  unity  of 
the  British  Empire,  and  as  to  the  sort  of  services  he  would  render  toward 
consolidating  and  exalting  it. 

While  Oxford  had  returned  him  by  an  excellent  majority,  Mrs. 
Gladstone  had  felt  it  necessary  for  her  to  take  a  part  in  the  canvass, 
and  now  Oxford  beheld  him,  as  he  grew  steadily  toward  the  Liberalism 
whose  champion  he  was  to  be.  Across  his  triumphs  as  a  debater  there 
came  a  shadow,  for  in  1850  his  little  daughter  died,  and  added  to  that 
shadow  was  another,  which  came  from  the  fact  that  the  godfathers  of 
his  oldest  son,  Henry  Manning  and  Mr.  Hope-Scott,  went  over  to  the 
Church  of  Rome.  No  biographer  has  failed  to  quote  at  least  the  con- 
clusion of  the  letter  which  Gladstone  wrote  to  his  old  friend.  He  said: 

"My  Dear  Hope: — 

"...     Affection  which  is  fed  by  intercourse,  and  above  all,  by 
co-operation  for  sacred  ends,  has  little  need  of  verbal  expression,  but  such 

1 20 


OXFORD'S  REPRESENTATIVE.  121 

expression  is  deeply  ennobling  when  active  relations  have  changed.  It  is 
no  matter  of  merit  to  me  to  feel  strongly  on  the  subject  of  that  change. 
It  may  be  little  better  than  pure  selfishness.  I  have  too  good  reason  to 
know  what  this  year  has  cost  me;  and  so  little  hope  have  I  that  the  places 
now  vacant  can  be  filled  up  for  me,  that  the  marked  character  of  these 
events  in  reference  to  myself  rather  teaches  me  this  lesson — the  work  to 
which  I  aspired  is  reserved  for  other  and  better  men.  And  if  that  be  the 
Divine  will,  I  so  entirely  recognize  its  fitness,  that  the  grief  would  so  far 
be  such  to  me  were  I  alone  concerned.  The  pain,  the  wounds,  and  the 
mystery  is  this, — that  you  should  have  refused  the  higher  vocation  you 
had  before  you.  .  .  .  There  is  one  word,  and  one  only,  in  your  letter 
that  I  do  not  interpret  closely.  Separated  we  are,  but  I  hope  and  think 
not  yet  estranged.  Were  I  more  estranged  I  should  bear  the  separation 
better.  ...  I  honor  you  even  in  what  I  think  your  error.  Why,  then, 
should  my  feelings  to  you  alter  in  anything  else?  It  seems  to  me  as  though 
in  these  fearful  times,  events  were  more  and  more  growing  too  large  for 
our  puny  grasp,  and  we  should  the  more  look  for  and  trust  the  Divine 
purpose  in  them,  when  we  find  they  have  wholly  passed  beyond  the  reach 
and  measure  of  our  own.  .  .  .  For  the  present  we  have  to  endure,  to 
trust,  and  to  pray  that  each  day  may  bring  its  strength  with  its  burden, 
and  its  lamp  for  its  gloom.  Ever  yours  with  unaltered  affection, 

"W.  E.  GLADSTONE." 

Gladstone  became  deeply  interested  in  the  subject  of  the  orthodoxy 
of  the  Church  of  England,  which  he  thought  now  to  be  seriously  at- 
tacked. He  had  defended  his  position,  which  favored  diplomacy  on  the 
part  of  England  with  the  Court  at  Rome,  but  he  could  not  look  else- 
where than  to  the  Church  of  England  for  security  in  ecclesiastical  and 
religious  affairs.  In  the  same  year  he  wrote  the  famous  letter  to  the 
Bishop  of  London,  in  which  he  took  the  ground  that  he  could  not 
support  the  Privy  Council  as  the  last  Court  of  Appeal  in  religious  mat- 
ters, and  that  the  Royal  supremacy  was  consistent  with  the  religious 
activity  and  hope  of  the  English  Church.  Gladstone  has  labored,  as  a 
genuine  revivalist  must,  for  the  spiritual  life  of  the  religious  establish- 
ment. This  letter  is  only  an  example  of  his  profound  interest  in  these 
subjects.  He  said  in  conclusion: 

I  find  it  no  part  of  my  duty,  my  Lord,  to  idolize  the  Bishops  of 
England  and  Wales,  or  to  place  my  conscience  in  their  keeping.  I  do  not 
presume  or  dare  to  speculate  upon  their  particular  decisions;  but  I  say 


122  GLADSTONE:  A   BIOGRAPHICAL   STUDY. 

that,  acting  jointly,  publicly,  solemnly,  responsibly,  they  are  the  best  and 
most  natural  organs  of  the  judicial  office  of  the  Church  in  matters  of 
heresy,  and,  according  to  reason,  history,  and  the  Constitution,  in  that 
subject-matter  the  fittest  and  safest  counsellors  of  the  Crown. 

We  should,  indeed,  have  a  consolation,  the  greatest  perhaps  which 
times  of  heavy  trouble  and  affliction  can  afford,  in  the  reduction  of  the 
whole  matter  to  a  short,  clear,  and  simple  issue;  because  such  a  resolution, 
when  once  unequivocally  made  clear  by  acts,  would  sum  up  the  whole  case 
before  the  Church  to  the  effect  of  these  words:  "You  have  our  decision; 
take  your  own;  choose  between  the  mess  of  pottage,  and  the  birthright  of 
the  Bride  of  Christ." 

Those  that  are  awake  might  hardly  require  a  voice  of  such  appalling 
clearness;  those  that  sleep,  it  surely  would  awaken;  of  those  that  would 
not  hear,  it  must  be  said,  "Neither  would  they  hear,  though  one  rose 
from  the  dead." 

But  She  that,  a  stranger  and  a  pilgrim  in  this  world,  is  wedded  to  the 
Lord,  and  lives  only  in  the  hope  of  His  Coming,  would  know  her  part; 
and  while  going  forth  to  her  work  with  steady  step  and  bounding  heart, 
would  look  back  with  deep  compassion  upon  the  region  she  had  quitted — 
upon  the  slumbering  millions,  no  less  blind  to  the  Future,  than  ungrate- 
ful to  the  Past. 

This  is  the  year  in  which  occurred  those  memorable  debates  in  the 
House  of  Commons,  "which,"  as  Dean  Stanley  says,  "decided  the  fate 
of  the  Universities."  He  thus  writes  of  the  scene  to  his  Oxford  friend, 
Jowett: 

"I  postponed  writing  till  the  debate  of  last  nig-ht  was  over. 
Marshall,  the  Proctor,  and  myself  represented  the  University  in  the 
Speakers'  gallery,  and  Liddell  below  the  Bar.  The  Ministerial  speeches 
were  very  feeble,  perhaps  purposely  so,  with  a  view  of  closing  the  de- 
bate. Gladstone's  was  very  powerful,  and  said,  in  a  most  effective  man- 
ner, anything  which  could  be  said  against  the  -  Commission.  His 
allusion  to  Peel  was  very  touching,  and  the  House  responded  to  it  by 
profound  and  sympathetic  silence,  with  the  exception  of  two  M.  P.'s, 
who,  having  been  for  some  time  lying  head  to  head  in  the  Members' 
gallery,  were  roused  from  repose  by  the  pause,  and,  hearing  what  it  was, 
exclaimed  to  one  another:  'Balderdash!'  'D d  balderdash!'  and 


OXFORD'S  REPRESENTATIVE.  123 

so  to  sleep  again.  Heywood's  closing  speech  was  happily  drowned  in 
the  roar  of  'Divide/  so  that  nothing  could  be  heard  but  the  name  of 
'Cardinal  Wolsey,'  thrice  repeated. 

"Altogether  I  confess  that  I  should  have  been  relieved  had  the  ma- 
jority been  the  other  way.  'Put  not  your  trust  in  Prime  Ministers'  is 
the  chief  moral  I  derive  from  the  recent  events." 

In  1850  a  person  named  Don  Pacifico,  a  subject  of  Her  Majesty 
living  in  Athens,  was  attacked  by  a  mob  of  Greeks,  who  looted  his 
house.  When  he  appealed  to  the  Greek  Government  for  redress  and 
remuneration  that  Government,  perhaps  astonished  into  silence  by  the 
size  of  his  claim,  refused  to  heed  him.  The  sum  of  more  than  30,000 
pounds  was  too  much  for  Greece  to  pay,  especially  when  the  belong- 
ings of  Don  Pacifico  were  proven  to  have  been  of  very  small  value. 
At  the  same  time  Lord  Palmerston  was  having  another  quarrel  with 
Greece,  the  noble  lord  taking  the  part  of  an  English  resident  in  Athens, 
and  contending  that  the  government  there  would  not  pay  him  proper 
compensation  for  some  land  they  had  taken.  Some  of  the  Ionian  sub- 
jects of  Great  Britain  made  a  complaint  that  they  had  been  illy  treated. 
It  was  enough  for  Palmerston.  He  inaugurated  what  England  has 
heard  of  as  "a  spirited  foreign  policy."  The  British  fleet  soon  seized  all 
Greek  shipping  found  in  the  harbor  of  the  Piraeus.  Palmerston  flew  into 
a  fury  at  the  thought  that  France  had  interfered  in  the  affair,  and  the 
House  of  Commons  \vas  called  on  to  act.  To  the  debate  Palmerston 
made  a  contribution  five  hours'  long,  in  which  he  referred  to  the 
Roman  phrase:  "Civis  Romanus,"  and  he  transferred  all  its  boasting- 
jingoism  to  the  lips  of  England.  Gladstone's  peace-loving  mind, 
steadily  acting  under  the  dominion  of  just  principles,  sought  to  change 
the  course  of  things  by  a  masterly  speech,  in  which  he  said: 

"Sir,  great  as  is  the  influence  and  power  of  Britain,  she  cannot  afford 
to  follow,  for  any  length  of  time,  a  self-isolating  policy.  It  would  be 
a  contravention  of  the  law  of  nature  and  of  God,  if  it  were  possible  for 
any  single  nation  of  Christendom  to  emancipate  itself  from  the  obliga- 
tions which  bind  all  other  nations,  and  to  arrogate,  in  the  face  of  man- 
kind, a  position  of  peculiar  privilege.  And  now  I  will  grapple  with  the 
noble  lord  on  the  ground  which  he  selected  for  himself,  in  the  most  tn- 


124  GLADSTONE:  A   BIOGRAPHICAL   STUDY. 

umphant  portion  of  his  speech,  by  his  reference  to  those  emphatic  words, 
'Civis  Romanus  sum.'  He  vaunted,  amidst  the  cheers  of  his  supporters, 
that  under  his  Administration  an  Englishman  should  be,  throughout 
the  world,  what  the  citizen  of  Rome  had  been.  What,  then,  sir,  was  a 
Roman  citizen?  He  was  the  member  of  a  privileged  caste;  he  belonged 
to  a  conquering  race,  to  a  nation  that  held  all  others  bound  down  by 
the  strong  arm  of  power.  For  him  there  was  to  be  an  exceptional  sys- 
tem of  law;  for  him  principles  were  to  be  asserted,  and  by  him  rights 
were  to  be  enjoyed,  that  were  denied  to  the  rest  of  the  world.  Is  such, 
then,  the  view  of  the  noble  lord  as  to  the  relation  which  is  to  subsist  be- 
tween England  and  other  countries?  Does  he  make  the  claim  for  us 
that  we  are  to  be  uplifted  upon  a  platform  high  above  the  standing- 
ground  of  all  other  nations?  It  is,  indeed,  too  clear,  not  only  from  the 
expressions  but  from  the  whole  tone  of  the  speech  of  the  noble  viscount, 
that  too  much  of  this  notion  is  lurking  in  his  mind;  that  he  adopts,  in 
part,  that  vain  conception  that  we,  forsooth,  have  a  mission  to  be  the 
censors  of  vice  and  folly,  of  abuse  and  imperfection,  among  the  other 
countries  of  the  world;  that  we  are  to  be  the  universal  schoolmasters; 
and  that  all  those  who  hesitate  to  recognize  our  office  can  be  governed 
only  by  prejudice  or  personal  animosity,  and  should  have  the  blind  war 
of  diplomacy  forthwith  declared  against  them.  And  certainly,  if  the 
business  of  a  Foreign  Secretary  properly  were  to  carry  on  diplomatic 
wars,  all  must  admit  that  the  noble  lord  is  a  master  in  the  discharge  of 
his  functions.  What,  sir,  ought  a  Foreign  Secretary  to  be?  Is  he  to 
be  like  some  gallant  knight  at  a  tournament  of  old,  pricking  forth  into 
the  lists,  armed  at  all  points,  confiding  in  his  sinews  and  his  skill,  chal- 
lenging all  comers  for  the  sake  of  honor,  and  having  no  other  duty 
than  to  lay  as  many  as  possible  of  his  adversaries  sprawling  in  the  dust? 
If  such  is  the  idea  of  a  good  Foreign  Secretary,  I,  for  one,  would  vote 
to  the  noble  lord  his  present  appointment  for  his  life.  But,  sir,  I  do  not 
understand  the  duty  of  a  Secretary  for  Foreign  Affairs  to  be  of  such 
a  character.  I  understand  it  to  be  his  duty  to  conciliate  peace  with 
dignity.  I  think  it  to  be  the  very  first  of  all  his  duties  studiously  to  ob- 
serve, and  to  exalt  in  honor  among  mankind,  that  great  code  of  princi- 
ples which  is  termed  the  law  of  nations,  which  the  learned  and  honor- 


OXFORD'S  REPRESENTATIVE.  125 

able  member  for  Sheffield  has  found,  indeed,  to  be  very  vague  in  their 
nature,  and  greatly  dependent  on  the  discretion  of  each  particular  coun- 
try, but  in  which  I  find,  on  the  contrary,  a  great  and  noble  monument  of 
human  wisdom,  founded  on  the  combined  dictates  of  reason  and  ex- 
perience, a  precious  inheritance  bequeathed  to  us  by  the  generations 
that  have  gone  before  us,  and  a  firm  foundation  on  which  we  must  take 
care  to  build  whatever  it  may  be  our  part  to  add  to  their  acquisitions, 
if  indeed,  we  wish  to  maintain  and  to  consolidate  the  brotherhood  of 
nations  and  to  promote  the  peace  and  welfare  of  the  world. 

"Sir,  I  say  the  policy  of  the  noble  lord  tends  to  encourage  and  con- 
firm in  us  that  which  is  our  besetting  fault  and  weakness,  both  as  a  na- 
tion and  as  individuals.  Let  an  Englishman  travel  where  he  will  as  a 
private  person,  he  is  found  in  general  to  be  upright,  high-minded,  brave, 
liberal  and  true;  but,  with  all  this,  foreigners  are  too  often  sensible  of 
something  that  galls  them  in  his  presence,  and  I  apprehend  it  is  because 
he  has  too  great  a  tendency  to  self-esteem — too  little  disposition  to 
regard  the  feelings,  the  habits,  and  the  ideas  of  others.  Sir,  I  find 
this  characteristic  too  plainly  legible  in  the  policy  of  the  noble  lord.  I 
doubt  not  that  use  will  be  made  of  our  present  debate  to  work  upon  this 
peculiar  weakness  of  the  English  mind.  The  people  will  be  told  that 
those  who  oppose  the  motion  are  governed  by  personal  motives,  have 
no  regard  for  public  principles,  no  enlarged  ideas  of  national  policy. 
You  will  take  your  case  before  a  favorable  jury,  and  you  think  to 
gain  your  verdict,  but,  sir,  let  the  House  of  Commons  be  warned — 
let  it  warn  itself — against  all  illusions.  There  is  in  this  case  also  a  course 
of  appeal.  There  is  an  appeal,  such  as  the  honorable  and  learned  mem- 
ber for  Sheffield  has  made,  from  the  one  House  of  Parliament  to  the 
other.  There  is  a  further  appeal  from  this  House  of  Parliament  to  the 
people  of  England;  but  lastly,  there  is  also  an  appeal  from  the  people 
of  England  to  the  general  sentiment  of  the  civilized  world,  and  I,  for 
my  part,  am  of  opinion  that  England  will  stand  shorn  of  a  chief  part  of 
her  glory  and  pride  if  she  shall  be  found  to  have  separated  herself, 
through  the  policy  she  pursues  abroad,  from  the  moral  support  which 
the  general  and  fixed  convictions  of  mankind  afford — if  the  day  shall 


126  GLADSTONE:   A  BIOGRAPHICAL    STUDY. 

come  when  she  may  continue  to  excite  the  wonder  and  the  fear  of  other 
nations,  but  in  which  she  shall  have  no  part  in  their  affection  and  regard. 

"No,  sir,  let  it  not  be  so;  let  us  recognize,  and  recognize  with  frank- 
ness, the  equality  of  the  weak  with  the  strong,  the  principles  of  brother- 
hood among  nations,  and  of  their  sacred  independence.  When  we  are 
asking  for  the  maintenance  of  the  rights  which  belong  to  our  fellow- 
subjects  resident  in  Greece,  let  us  do  as  we  would  be  done  by,  and  let 
us  pay  all  respect  to  a  feeble  State,  and  to  the  infancy  of  free  institutions, 
which  we  should  desire  and  should  exact  from  others  towards  their 
maturity  and  their  strength.  Let  us  refrain  from  all  gratuitous  and 
arbitrary  meddling  in  the  internal  concerns  of  other  States,  even  as 
we  should  resent  the  same  interference  if  it  were  attempted  to  be  prac- 
ticed towards  ourselves.  If  the  noble  lord  has  indeed  acted  on  these 
principles,  let  the  Government  to  which  he  belongs  have  your  verdict 
in  its  favor,  but  if  he  has  departed  from  them,  as  I  contend,  and  as  I 
humbly  think  and  urge  upon  you  that  it  has  been  too  amply  proved, 
then  the  House  of  Commons  must  not  shrink  from  the  performance  ol 
its  duty  under  whatever  expectations  of  momentary  obloquy  or  re- 
proach,  because  we  shall  have  done  what  is  right;  we  shall  enjoy  the 
peace  of  our  own  consciences,  and  receive,  whether  a  little  sooner  or 
a  little  later,  the  approval  of  the  public  voice  for  having  entered  our 
solemn  protest  against  a  system  of  policy  which  we  believe,  nay,  which 
we  know,  whatever  may  be  its  first  aspect,  must,  of  necessity,  in  its 
final  results  be  unfavorable  even  to  the  security  of  British  subjects 
resident  abroad,  which  it  professes  so  much  to  study — unfavorable  to 
the  dignity  of  the  country,  which  the  motion  of  the  honorable  and 
learned  member  asserts  it  preserves — and  equally  unfavorable  to  that 
other  great  and  sacred  object,  which  also  it  suggests -to  our  recollec- 
tion, the  maintenance  of  peace  with  the  nations  of  the  world." 

But  Lord  Palmerston's  project  was  carried  by  a  majority  of  forty-six. 

Gladstone  suffered  an  immeasurable  loss,  as  did  England,  in  the 
death  of  Sir  Robert  Peel,  who  received  fatal  injuries  in  being  thrown 
from  his  horse,  on  June  29th.  Speaking  in  the  House  of  Commons 
Gladstone  said: 

"I  am  quite  sure  that  every  heart  is  much  too  full  to  allow  us,  at  a 


OXFORD'S  REPRESENTATIVE.  127 

period  so  early,  to  enter  upon  a  consideration  the  amount  of  that 
calamity  with  which  the  country  has  been  visited  in  his,  I  must  even 
say,  premature  death;  for  though  he  has  died  full  of  years  and  full  of 
honors,  yet  it  is  a  death  which  our  human  eyes  will  regard  as  pre- 
mature; because  we  had  fondly  hoped  that,  in  whatever  position  he  was 
placed,  by  the  weight  of  his  character,  by  the  splendor  of  his  talents, 
by  the  purity  of  his  virtues,  he  would  still  have  been  spared  to  render  to 
his  country  the  most  essential  services.  I  will  only,  sir,  quote  those 
most  touching  and  feeling  lines  which  were  applied  by  one  of  the  great 
poets  of  this  country  to  the  memory  of  a  man  great  indeed,  but  yet  not 
greater  than  Sir  Robert  Peel: 

"  'Now  is  the  stately  column  broke, 
The  beacon  light  is  quenched  in  smoke 
The  trumpet's  silver  voice  is  still 
The  warder  silent  on  the  hill.' 

"Sir,  I  will  add  no  more — in  saying  this  I  have,  perhaps,  said  too 
much.  It  might  have  been  better  had  I  simply  confined  myself  to  sec- 
onding the  motion.  I  am  sure  the  tribute  of  respect  which  we  now  offer 
will  be  all  the  more  valuable  from  the  silence  with  which  the  motion 
is  received,  and  which  I  well  know  has  not  arisen  from  the  want,  but 
from  the  excess,  of  feeling  on  the  part  of  this  House!" 

In  his  letter  to  the  Bishop  of  London  on  the  Royal  Supremacy, 
Gladstone  took  the  highest  ground  of  loyalty  to  the  King  or  Queen 
in  Church  affairs.  He  said: 

"The  trust  reposed  by  the  Constitution  in  the  King  with  respect 
to  civil  purposes  was  this:  that  he  would  commonly  act  in  the  spirit 
of  the  Constitution,  and  would  avail  himself  of  the  best  assistance  which 
the  country  might  afford  for  ascertaining,  fostering,  and  upholding  that 
spirit,  and  for  detailing  according  to  its  dictates  with  public  exigencies 
as  they  should  arise.  And  this  trust  was  a  trust  not  speculative  only, 
but  accompanied  with  practical  safeguards.  They  were  these  in  par- 
ticular; that  for  making  laws  the  Sovereign  must  act  with  the  advice 
and  consent  of  the  estates  of  the  realm;  and  that,  for  administering 
them,  he  would  act  by  and  through  the  persons  who  had  made  the  laws 


128  GLADSTONE:   A   BIOGRAPHICAL    STUDY. 

the  study  and  business  of  their  lives,  and  who  would  be  best  able  to  in- 
terpret them  according  to  their  own  general  spirit,  and  to  the  analogies 
which  the  spirit  supplied  as  well  as  to  the  mere  precedents  which  its 
history  afforded.  I  speak  of  the  constitutional  system,  which  was  in 
course  of  being  gradually  elaborated  and  matured  in  England.  Its 
essential  features  had  for  many  generations  exercised  a  marked  influ- 
ence over  the  fortunes  of  the  country,  and  in  time  they  attained  such  a 
ripeness,  as  to  place  both  our  legislative  and  judicial  systems  beyond 
the  reach  of  the  arbitrary  will,  or  the  personal  caprice,  of  Sovereigns. 

"Now,  I  say,  that  the  intention  of  the  reformation,  taken  generally, 
was  to  place  our  religious  liberties  on  a  footing  analogous  to  that  on 
which  our  civil  liberties  had  long  stood.  A  supremacy  of  power  in  mak- 
ing and  administering  Church  law  as  well  as  State  law  was  to  vest  in  the 
Sovereign;  but  in  making  Church  law  he  was  to  ratify  the  acts  of  the 
Church  herself,  represented  in  Convocation,  and  if  there  were  need  of 
the  highest  civil  sanctions,  then  to  have  the  aid  of  Parliament  also.  In 
administering  Church  law,  he  was  to  discharge  this  function  through 
the  medium  of  Bishops  and  divines,  Canonists  and  civilians,  as  her  own 
most  fully  authorized,  best  instructed  sons  following  in  each  case  the 
analogy  of  his  ordinary  procedure  as  head  of  the  State." 

Referring  to  the  compact  between  Sovereign  and  subjects,  he  said 
also: 

"The  ancient  idea  of  compact  had  never  been  extinguished;  and 
upon  an  adequate  occasion,  namely,  at  the  Revolution,  it  was  reani- 
mated, in  terms  indeed  open  to  dispute,  but  in  substance  with  a  sol- 
emnity and  weight  of  sanction  which  it  has  never  lost.  Now  this  great 
and  fundamental  idea  of  compact,  if  it  applies  to  individual  subjects, 
applies  also  yet  more  formally  to  the  Estates  of  the  realm,  and  involves 
more  than  the  mere  personal  conduct  of  the  Sovereign.  If  the  tenure 
of  the  throne  itself  depends  upon  the  observance  of  a  compact,  much 
more  does  every  other  relation  that  binds  together  the  several  com- 
ponent parts  of  the  body  politic,  in  its  several  orders  and  degrees  of 
men,  as  spirituality  and  temporality." 

Gladstone's  famous  pamphlet  on  the  Royal  Supremacy  was  attract- 
ing greatest  attention.  His  shrewdest  critics  have  proven  to  his  most 


GLADSTONE  AND  HIS  SON  HERBERT 


THE  RIGHT  HONORABLE  LORD  MACAULAY 


OXFORD'S  REPRESENTATIVE.  129 

loyal  admirers  that  here  is  furnished  perhaps  the  most  conspicuous 
illustration  of  that  habit  of  mind,  which,  in  affairs  of  more  importance 
than  this,  has  operated  to  confuse  rather  than  guide  plain  people  in 
search  of  truth  in  its  simplicity  or  facts  in  their  completeness.  Bagehot 
wrote: 

"For  the  purpose  of  this  case,  it  was  of  the  last  importance  to  deter- 
mine the  exact  position  of  the  Crown  with  respect  to  ecclesiastical 
affairs,  and  especially  to  the  offense  of  heresy.  The  law  at  first  seems 
distinct  enough  on  the  matter.  The  ist  of  Elizabeth  provides  'that 
such  jurisdictions,  privileges,  superiorities  and  pre-eminences,  spiritual 
and  ecclesiastical,  as  by  any  spiritual  or  ecclesiastical  power  or  authority 
hath  heretofore  been  or  may  lawfully  be  exercised  or  used  for  the 
visitation  of  the  ecclesiastical  state  and  persons,  and  for  reformation, 
order  and  correction  of  the  same,  and  of  all  manner  of  errors,  heresies, 
schisms,  abuses,  offenses,  contempts  and  enormities,  shall  forever,  by 
authority  of  this  present  parliament,  be  united  and  annexed  to  the 
imperial  Crown  of  this  realm/  These  words  would  have  seemed  dis- 
tinct and  clear  to  most  persons.  They  would  have  seemed  to  give  to 
the  Crown  all  the  power  it  could  wish  to  exercise — all  that  any  spiritual 
authority  had  ever  'theretofore  exercised' — all  that  any  temporal 
authority  could  ever  use.  We  should  think  it  was  clear  Queen  Eliza- 
beth would  have  applied  a  rather  summary  method  of  instruction  to 
any  one  who  attempted  to  limit  the  jurisdiction  conferred  by  this  en- 
actment. If  Mr.  Gladstone  had  lived  in  the  times  about  which  he  was 
writing,  he  might  have  had  to  make  a  choice  between  being  silent  and 
being  punished;  but  in  the  times  of  Queen  Victoria  he  is  not  subject 
to  an  alternative  so  painful.  He  writes  securely: 

'We  have  now  before  us  the  terms  of  the  great  statute  which  from 
the  time  it  was  passed,  has  been  the  actual  basis  of  the  royal  authority  in 
matters  ecclesiastical;  and  I  do  not  load  these  pages  by  reference  to  dec- 
larations of  the  Crown,  and  other  public  documents  less  in  authority  than 
this,  in  order  that  we  may  fix  our  view  the  more  closely  upon  the  expres- 
sions of  what  may  fairly  be  termed  a  fundamental  law  in  relation  to  the 
subject  matter  before  us. 

'The  first  observation  I  make  is  this:  There  is  no  evidence  in  the 
words  which  have  been  quoted  that  the  Sovereign  is,  according  to  the  in- 
9 


I30  GLADSTONE:   A  BIOGRAPHICAL   STUDY. 

tention  of  the  statute,  the  source  or  fountain-head  of  ecclesiastical  jurisdic- 
tion. They  have  no  trace  of  such  a  meaning,  in  so  far  as  it  exceeds  (and  it 
does  exceed)  the  proposition,  that  this  jurisdiction  has  been  by  law  united 
or  annexed  to  the  Crown. 

'I  do  not  now  ask  what  have  been  the  glosses  of  lawyers — what  are 
the  reproaches  of  polemical  writers — or  even  what  attributes  may  be 
ascribed  to  prerogative,  independent  of  statute,  and  therefore  applicable  to 
the  Church  before  as  well  as  after  the  reformation.  I  must  for  the  purposes 
of  this  argument  assume  what  I  shall  never  cease  to  believe  until  the  con- 
trary conclusion  is  demonstrated  by  fact,  namely,  that,  in  the  case  of  the 
Church,  justice  is  to  be  administered  from  the  English  bench  upon  the 
same  principles  as  in  all  other  cases — that  our  judges,  or  our  judicial  com- 
mittees, are  not  to  be  our  legislators — and  that  the  statutes  of  the  realm, 
as  they  are  above  the  sacred  majesty  of  the  Queen,  so  are  likewise  above 
their  ministerial  interpreters.  It  was  by  statutes  that  the  changes  in  the 
position  of  the  Church  at  that  great  epoch  were  measured — by  statute  that 
the  position  itself  is  defined;  and  the  statute,  I  say,  contains  no  trace  of 
such  a  meaning  as  that  the  Crown  either  originally  was  the  source  and 
spring  of  ecclesiastical  jurisdiction,  or  was  to  become  such  in  virtue  of  the 
annexation  to  it  of  the  powers  recited;  but  simply  bears  the  meaning, 
that  it  was  to  be  master  over  its  administration.' 

So  that  which  seems  a  despotism  is  gradually  pruned  down  into  a 
vicegerency.  "All  the  superiorities  and  pre-eminences  spiritual  and 
ecclesiastical,"  which  had  ever  been  lawfully  exercised,  are  restricted 
to  the  single  function  of  regulation;  and  by  a  judicious  elaboration  the 
Crown  becomes  scarcely  the  head  of  the  Church,  but  only  the  visitor 
and  corrector  of  it,  as  of  several  other  corporations.  We  are  not  now 
concerned  with  the  royal  supremacy — we  have  no  wish  to  hint  or  to 
intimate  an  opinion  on  a  vast  legal  discussion;  but  we  are  concerned 
with  Mr.  Gladstone.  And  we  venture  to  say  that  a  subtler  gloss,  more 
scholastically  expressed,  never  fell  from  lawyer  in  the  present  age,  or 
from  schoolmen  in  times  of  old." 

We  see  in  this  only  the  necessary  witness  made  by  a  man  of  Glad- 
stone's temperament  that,  in  progress  of  all  kinds,  the  old  bark  does 
not  fall  off  entirely  until  new  bark*  forces  it  off  from  beneath. 


CHAPTER  XII. 
THE  NEAPOLITAN  OUTRAGES. 

In  the  course  of  the  winter  of  1850-51,  Gladstone,  yielding  to  a 
necessity  brought  about  by  the  illness  of  one  of  his  children,  visited 
Naples,  and  spent  nearly  four  months  in  that  city.  Here  was  a  citizen 
of  the  world  whose  heart  heard  the  cry  of  humanity  as  he  saw  seventy 
of  the  hundred  and  forty  Deputies  of  the  Chamber  arrested  or  sent 
into  exile,  and  more  than  20,000  offenders  against  a  base  policy  im- 
prisoned under  an  indictment  which  meant  their  death.  He  hastened  to 
the  charge,  and  addressed  an  historical  letter  to  his  friend,  Lord  Aber- 
deen, in  England,  in  which  he  said: 

"It  is  not  mere  imperfection,  not  corruption  in  low  quarters,  not 
occasional  severity,  that  I  am  about  to  describe;  it  is  incessant,  sys- 
tematic, deliberate  violation  of  the  law  by  the  Power  appointed  to 
watch  over  and  maintain  it.  It  is  such  violation  of  human  and  written 
law  as  this,  carried  on  for  the  purpose  of  violating  every  other  law,  un- 
written and  eternal,  human  and  divine;  it  is  the  wholesale  persecution 
of  virtue  when  united  with  intelligence,  operating  upon  such  a  scale  that 
entire  classes  may  with  truth  be  said  to  be  its  object,  so  that  the  Gov- 
ernment i*in  bitter  and  cruel,  as  well  as  utterly  illegal,  hostility  to  what- 
ever in  the  nation  really  lives  and  moves,  and  forms  the  mainspring 
of  practical  progress  and  improvement;  it  is  the  awful  profanation  of 
public  religion,  by  its  notorious  alliance,  in  the  governing  powers,  with 
the  violation  of  every  moral  law  under  the  stimulants  of  fear  and  ven- 
geance; it  is  the  perfect  prostitution  of  the  judicial  office,  which  has 
made  it,  under  veils  only  too  threadbare  and  transparent,  the  degraded 
recipient  of  the  vilest  and  clumsiest  forgeries  got  up  wilfully  and  delib- 
erately, by  the  immediate  advisers  of  the  Crown,  for  the  purpose  of 
destroying  the  peace,  the  freedom,  ay,  and  even  if  not  by  capital  sen- 
tences the  life,  of  men  among  the  most  virtuous,  upright,  intelligent, 


I32  GLADSTONE:   A   BIOGRAPHICAL    STUDY. 

distinguished,  and  refined  of  the  whole  community;  it  is  the  savage 
and  cowardly  system  of  moral,  as  well  as  in  a  lower  degree  of  physical, 
torture  through  which  the  sentences  extracted  from  the  debased  courts 
of  justice  are  carried  into  effect.  The  effect  of  all  this  is,  total  inversion 
of  all  the  moral  and  social  ideas.  Law,  instead  of  being  respected,  is 
odious.  Force,  and  not  affection,  is  the  foundation  of  Government. 
There  is  not  association,  but  a  violent  antagonism,  between  the  idea 
of  freedom  and  that  of  order.  The  governing  power,  which  teaches  of 
itself  that  it  is  the  image  of  God  upon  earth,  is  clothed,  in  the  view  of 
the  overwhelming  majority  of  the  thinking  public,  with  all  the  vices 
for  its  attributes.  I  have  seen  and  heard  the  strong  and  too  true  expres- 
sion used,  This  is  the  negation  of  God  erected  into  a  system  of  Govern- 
ment.' " 

He  said  in  his  reply  to  the  criticism  of  his  letter  from  Naples: 
."I  express  the  hope  that  while  there  is  time,  while  there  is  quiet, 
while  dignity  may  yet  be  saved  in  showing  mercy,  and  in  the  blessed 
work  of  restoring  Justice  to  her  seat,  the  Government  of  Naples  may 
set  its  hand  in  earnest  to  work  of  real  and  searching,  however  quiet 
and  unostentatious,  reform;  that  it  may  not  become  unavoidable  to 
reiterate  these  appeals  from  the  hand  of  power  to  the  one  common  heart 
of  mankind;  to  produce  those  painful  documents,  those  harrowing 
descriptions,  which  might  be  supplied  in  rank  abundance,  of  which  I 
have  scarcely  given  the  faintest  idea  or  sketch,  and  which,  if  they 
were  laid  from  time  to  time  before  the  world,  would  bear  down  like  a 
deluge  every  effort  at  apology  or  palliation,  and  would  cause  all  that 
has  recently  been  made  known  to  be  forgotten  and  eclipsed  in  deeper 
horrors  yet;  lest  the  strength  of  offended  and  indignant  humanity 
should  rise  up  as  a  giant  refreshed  with  wine,  and,  while  sweeping  away 
these  abominations  from  the  eye  of  Heaven,  should  sweep  away  along 
with  them  things  pure  and  honest,  ancient,  venerable,  salutary  to  man- 
kind, crowned  with  the  glories  of  the  past,  and  still  capable  of  bearing 
future  fruit." 

He  added:  "The  principle  of  conservation  and  the  principle  of  prog- 
ress are  both  sound  in  themselves;  they  have  ever  existed  and  must  ever 
exist  together  in  European  society,  in  qualified  opposition,  but  in  vital 


THE  NEAPOLITAN  OUTRAGES.         133 

harmony  and  concurrence;  and  for  each  of  those  principles  it  is  a  mat- 
ter of  deep  and  essential  concern,  that  iniquities  committed  under  the 
shelter  of  its  name  should  be  stripped  of  that  shelter.  Most  of  all  is  this 
the  case  where  iniquity,  towering  on  high,  usurps  the  name  and  author- 
ity of  that  Heaven  to  which  it  lifts  its  head,  and  wears  the  double  mask 
of  Order  and  of  Religion.  Nor  has  it  ever  fallen  to  my  lot  to  perform 
an  office  so  truly  conservative,  as  in  the  endeavor  I  have  made  to  shut 
and  mark  off  from  the  sacred  cause  of  Government  in  general,  a  system 
which  I  believe  was  bringing  the  name  and  idea  of  Government  into 
shame  and  hatred,  and  converting  the  thing  from  a  necessity  and  a 
blessing  into  a  sheer  curse  to  human  kind." — Reply  to  the  Neapolitan 
Government,  1852. 

Too  little,  at  all  events,  but  the  most  Gladstone  could  do,  was  done, 
and  the  horrible  truth  had  been  revealed  in  all  its  ghastliness.  Cavour 
was  working  night  and  day  for  the  unification  of  Italy,  and  the  ex- 
pulsion of  Ferdinand  II.  was  most  desired.  Lord  John  Russell  had 
introduced  the  Ecclesiastical  Titles  Bill.  The  Roman  Pontiff  had 
issued  an  order  creating  a  Roman  Hierarchy  in  England.  Protest- 
antism revolted  against  what  certainly  appeared  to  be  an  attack  upon 
their  faith.  The  Pope  had  practically  abolished  the  Church  of  England, 
so  far  as  its  authority  and  its  position  were  concerned.  Her  Majesty's 
place  as  the  potentate  of  England  appeared  to  be  a  thing  of  no  im- 
portance to  His  Holiness.  The  country  was  one  wild  scene  of  excite- 
ment. Lord  John  Russell  urged  his  measure  forbidding  the  Pope  to 
constitute  Roman  Catholic  bishops  in  England,  according  to  the  new 
map  which  the  Vatican  had  invented.  But  Lord  John  Russell  had 
gone  too  far.  In  his  intemperate  attack,  he  had  denounced  the  High 
Church  party  as  the  ally  of  Rome.  Disraeli  directed  his  fiery  scorn 
against  the  Bill,  and  Mr.  Gladstone  condemned  it  unsparingly.  The 
Bill  pleased  nobody  but  the  author,  many  good  people  blaming  it  for 
its  concessions  to  Rome,  others  opposing  it  because  it  appeared  to  be 
an  expedient  violating  religious  liberty.  When  it  passed  finally,  its 
agency  was  moribund.  Twenty  years  after,  under  Gladstone,  it  was 
repealed. 


CHAPTER  XIII. 
PALMERSTON  OVERTHROWN. 

The  Government  now  was  becoming  unpopular.  Lord  Palmerston's 
policy  had  done  only  what  a  jingo  policy  can  do  for  any  country 
which  adopts  it.  Of  course,  it  failed  to  maintain  the  honor  of  England. 
Palmerston  had  become  unmanageable  and  neglectful  of  his  duties 
toward  Her  Majesty,  while  at  the  same  time  he  had  left  on  record  of 
his  willingness  to  connive  with  Louis  Napoleon,  who  suddenly  made 
himself  Emperor  of  the  French.  When  this  was  discovered,  Palmerston 
had  to  go  as  Foreign  Minister.  The  Queen  called  upon  Lord  Stanley 
and  Lord  Aberdeen,  but  both  declined  to  constitute  a  Government. 
At  last  the  Derby-Disraeli  Cabinet  was  formed,  the  latter  becoming 
Chancellor  of  the  Exchequer  and  Leader  of  the  House  of  Commons. 

Disraeli  introduced  a  Budget  intended  to  bridge  over  the  stream 
which  was  flowing  rapidly  and  dangerously  against  their  Government. 
Parliament  was  dissolved  on  July  1st,  and  Gladstone  came  back  from 
Oxford  with  an  increased  majority.  Now  Disraeli  introduced  a  Budget 
which  he  and  his  friends  had  pronounced  a  masterpiece.  Lord  Palmers- 
ton  was  out  of  the  way,  having  had  a  delicious  revenge  when  the  Bill 
for  the  reorganization  of  the  militia,  as  against  France,  was  up,  and 
he  helped  the  Tories  to  defeat  the  Government  which  had  dropped  him. 
But  the  Government,  and  especially  Mr.  Disraeli,  had  a  contest  on  hand 
of  large  proportions.  Disraeli  was  able  to  meet  manifold  criticism  of  his 
Budget,  and  destroy  or  conceal  it,  for  the  most  part,  with  his  bursting 
fusilade  of  brilliant  utterance  and  his  steady  fire  of  scorching  sarcasm. 
He  was  simply  exhibiting  the  sword  with  which  he  was  about  to  enter 
into  a  lifelong  duel  with  William  E.  Gladstone. 

Gladstone  arose  at  a  moment  when  Disraeli's  audacious  utterance 
had  clearly  intimidated  the  House.  His  reply  was  perhaps  the  least 
apparently  prepared  speech  he  ever  made,  but,  in  point  of  fact,  the 

134 


PALMERSTON  OVERTHROWN.  135 

preparation  of  all  his  preceding  years  showed  in  the  sinewy  strength 
and  resistless  onset  furnished  by  his  unpremeditated  sentences.  In 
twenty  minutes,  the  House  of  Commons,  which  had  previously  been 
cowed  under  the  haughty  demeanor  of  Disraeli,  rose  to  cheer  Gladstone, 
and  the  tumult  of  applause  which  broke  in  upon  his  fervid  reply  reached 
the  streets  outside  the  building.  Disraeli  and  his  government  were 
defeated  by  nineteen  votes.  Soon  the  Queen  received  the  announce- 
ment from  Lord  Derby,  and  the  latter  went  to  Osborne  with  his  resig- 
nation. England  was  in  a  state  of  frenzied  excitement.  Gladstone's 
name  was  the  one  name  heard  everywhere,  and  the  middle  classes  of 
England  believed  that  the  fame  of  William  Pitt  was  to  be  eclipsed 
by  this  new  finance-minister.  On  the  other  hand,  Gladstone  was  at- 
tacked by  a  ruffianly  crowd  at  the  Carlton  Club.  Mr.  Greville  says 
of  these  criminals  who  had  no  other  effective  instrumentalities  but  their 
knuckles,  "After  dinner,  when  they  got  drunk,  they  went  up  stairs  and 
finding  Gladstone  alone  in  the  drawing-room,  some  of  them  proposed 
to  throw  him  out  of  the  window.  This  they  did  not  quite  dare  do, 
but  contented  themselves  with  giving  some  insulting  message  or  order 
to  the  waiter,  and  then  went  away." 

Lord  Aberdeen,  who  became  Prime  Minister,  made  Gladstone 
Chancellor  of  the  Exchequer,  and  Gladstone  found  at  his  side  his 
excellent  friends,  Sir  James  Graham  and  Sidney  Herbert.  But  the 
Chancellor  could  no  longer  count  upon  the  enthusiastic  support  of 
Oxford.  Lord  Derby  had  been  elected  Chancellor  of  the  University, 
and  the  Oxford  constituency  felt  that  Gladstone  was  becoming  a 
Liberal.  He  fought  inch  by  inch  during  the  canvass,  and  after  the 
poll  had  been  kept  open  for  fifteen  days  and  every  effort  had  been 
made  to  defeat  him,  he  was  returned,  with  the  idea  in  his  own  mind 
certainly  that  Oxford  would  not  care  for  his  services  in  some  not  far- 
away future.  He  presented  his  first  Budget.  Months  before  the  Duke 
of  Wellington  had  died,  and  his  death  had  drawn  from  Gladstone  a 
fine  eulogium. 

"While  many  of  the  actions  of  his  life,"  said  the  speaker,  "while 
many  of  the  qualities  he  possessed  are  unattainable  by  others,  there 
are  lessons  which  we  may  all  derive  from  the  life  and  actions  of  that 


136  GLADSTONE:   A   BIOGRAPHICAL   STUDY. 

illustrious  man.  It  may  never  be  given  to  another  subject  of  the 
British  Crown  to  perform  services  so  brilliant  as  he  performed;  it 
may  never  be  given  to  another  man  to  hold  the  sword  which  was  to 
gain  the  independence  of  Europe,  to  rally  the  nations  around  it,  and 
while  England  saved  herself  by  her  constancy,  to  save  Europe  by  her 
example;  it  may  never  be  given  to  another  man,  after  having  attained 
such  eminence,  after  such  an  unexampled  series  of  victories,  to  show 
equal  moderation  in  peace  as  he  has  shown  greatness  in  war,  and  to 
devote  the  remainder  of  his  life  to  the  cause  of  external  and  internal 
peace  for  that  country  which  he  has  so  served;  it  may  never  be  given 
to  another  man  to  have  equal  authority  both  with  the  Sovereign  he 
served,  and  with  the  Senate  of  which  he  was  to  the  end  a  venerated 
member;  it  may  never  be  given  to  another  man,  after  such  a  career, 
to  preserve  even  to  the  last  the  full  possession  of  those  great  faculties 
with  which  he  was  endowed,  and  to  carry  on  the  services  of  one  of  the 
most  important  departments  of  the  State  with  unexampled  regularity 
and  success,  even  to  the  latest  day  of  his  life.  These  are  circumstances, 
these  are  qualities,  which  may  never  occur  again  in  the  history  of  this 
country.  But  there  are  qualities  which  the  Duke  of  Wellington  dis- 
played, of  which  we  may  all  act  in  humble  imitation:  that  sincere  and 
unceasing  devotion  to  our  country;  that  honest  and  upright  determi- 
nation to  act  for  the  benefit  of  the  country  on  every  occasion;  that 
devoted  loyalty,  which,  while  it  made  him  ever  anxious  to  serve  the 
Crown,  never  induced  him  to  conceal  from  his  Sovereign  that  which 
he  believed  to  be  the  truth;  that  devotedness  in  the  constant  per- 
formance of  duty;  that  temperance  of  his  life  which  enabled  him  at  all 
times  to  give  his  mind  and  his  faculties  to  the  services  which  he  was 
called  on  to  perform;  that  regular,  consistent,  and  unceasing  piety 
by  which  he  was  distinguished  at  all  times  in  his  life;  these  are  qualities 
that  are  attainable  by  others,  and  should  not  be  lost  as  an  example." 

Gladstone's  Budget  was  offered  for  the  consideration  of  the  House 
April  18,  1853.  It  was  a  marvel  of  sound  statesmanship,  and  it  was 
witness  to  the  fact  that  Gladstone's  sympathy  was  with  the  classes 
who  had  hitherto  found  life  difficult  of  support  in  England.  Onerous 
taxes  were  remitted,  arbitrary  charges  on  ordinary  business,  on  loco- 


PALMERSTON  OVERTHROWN.  137 

motion,  on  postal  facilities,  on  things  usually  needed  for  the  support 
of  everyday  life,  were  removed.  He  proposed  to  meet  any  deficiency 
by  increasing  the  duty  on  spirits,  extending  the  Income  Tax,  and 
putting  a  Legacy  Duty  on  real  property.  He  had  clearly  deserted  the 
privileged  few  and  gone  over  to  the  side  of  the  toiling  many.  Five 
million  pounds  of  custom  and  excise  duties  were  ruthlessly  removed, 
and  the  fortunate  were  asked  to  bear  burdens  with  the  unfortunate, 
in  all  the  realm.  If  Gladstone  had  ever  shown  genuine  political  power, 
it  was  reserved  for  this  occasion  to  give  it  its  noblest  exhibition. 

No  man  has  ever  so  charmingly  elucidated  the  tortuous  ways  in 
which  facts  hide  themselves  in  figures  as  has  Gladstone.  For  those 
five  hours,  he  illumined  long  fiscal  statements,  and  a  surprising  mass  of 
dry  fiscal  details,  having  to  do  with  all  sorts  of  usually  uninteresting 
subjects,  with  the  light  of  his  genius.  He  never  for  a  moment  suffered 
the  attention  of  the  House  to  flag,  while  his  picturesque  sentences 
carried  into  the  mind  of  the  dullest  hearer  his  own  clear  view  of  the 
great  and  complex  plan.  No  description  of  it  is  so  worthy  as  some 
extracts  from  the  speech  itself.  He  said  this  on  the  Income  Tax: 

"If  the  Committee  have  followed  me,  they  will  understand  that  we 
stand  on  the  principle  that  the  Income  Tax  ought  to  be  marked  as  a 
temporary  measure;  that  the  public  feeling  that  relief  should  be  given 
to  intelligence  and  skill  as  compared  with  property  ought  to  be  met, 
and  may  be  met;  that  the  Income  Tax  in  its  operation  ought  to  be 
mitigated  by  every  rational  means,  compatible  with  its  integrity;  and, 
above  all,  that  it  should  be  associated  in  the  last  term  of  its  existence, 
as  it  was  in  the  first,  with  those  remissions  of  indirect  taxation  which 
have  so  greatly  redounded  to  the  profit  of  this  country,  and  have  set 
so  admirable  an  example — an  example  that  has  already  in  some  quarters 
proved  contagious  to  other  nations  of  the  earth.  These  are  the  prin- 
ciples on  which  we  stand,  and  the  figures.  I  have  shown  you  that 
if  you  grant  us  the  taxes  which  we  ask,  the  moderate  amount  of  £2,500,- 
ooo  in  the  whole,  and  much  less  than  that  sum  for  the  present  year, 
you,  or  the  Parliament  which  may  be  in  existence  in  1860,  will  be  in 
the  condition,  if  you  so  think  fit,  to  part  with  the  Income  Tax.  I  am 
almost  afraid  to  look  at  the  clock,  shamefully  reminding  me,  as  it  must, 


138  GLADSTONE:   A    BIOGRAPHICAL   STUDY. 

how  long  I  have  trespassed  on  the  time  of  the  House.  All  I  can  say 
in  apology  is  that  I  have  endeavored  to  keep  closely  to  the  topics  which 
I  had  before  me — 

— immensum  spatiis  confecimus  aeqtior, 
Et  jam  tempus  equum  fumantia  solvere  colla." 

He  then  added  in  conclusion: 

'These  are  the  proposals  of  the  Government.  They  may  be  approved 
or  they  may  be  condemned,  but  I  have  this  full  confidence  that  it  will 
be  admitted  that  we  have  not  sought  to  evade  the  difficulties  of  the 
position;  that  we  have  not  concealed  those  difficulties  either  from  our- 
selves of  from  others;  that  we  have  not  attempted  to  counteract  them 
by  narrow  or  flimsy  expedients;  that  we  have  prepared  plans,  which, 
if  you  will  adopt  them,  will  go  some  way  to  close  up  many  vexed  finan- 
cial questions,  which,  if  not  settled  now,  may  be  attended  with  public 
inconvenience,  and  even  with  public  danger,  in  future  years  and  under 
less  favorable  circumstances;  that  we  have  endeavored,  in  the  plans 
that  we  have  now  submitted  to  you,  to  make  the  path  of  our  successors 
in  future  years  not  more  arduous  but  more  easy;  and  I  may  be  per- 
mitted to  add  that,  while  we  sought  to  do  justice  to  the  great  labor 
community  of  England  by  furthering  their  relief  from  indirect  taxation, 
we  have  not  been  guided  by  any  desire  to  put  one  class  against  another. 
We  have  felt  that  we  should  best  maintain  our  own  honor,  that  we 
should  best  meet  the  views  of  Parliament,  and  best  promote  the  inter- 
ests of  the  country,  by  declining  to  draw  any  invidious  distinction  be- 
tween class  and  class,  by  adopting  it  to  ourselves  as  a  sacred  aim  to 
diffuse  and  distribute  the  burdens  with  equal  and  impartial  hand;  and 
we  have  the  consolation  of  believing  that  by  proposals  such  as  these 
we  contribute,  as  far  as  in  us  lies,  not  only  to  develop  the  material  re- 
sources of  the  country,  but  to  knit  the  various  parts  of  this  great  nation 
yet  more  closely  than  ever  to  that  Throne,  and  to  those  institutions 
under  which  it  is  our  happiness  to  live." 

Greville  speaks  of  some  matters  of  minor  importance  which  oc- 
curred at  this  time,  and  then  says,  under  date  of  April  21,  1853: 

"These  little  battles  were,  however,  of  little  moment  compared 


PALMERSTON  OVERTHROWN.  139 

with  the  great  event  of  Gladstone's  Budget,  which  came  off  on  Monday 
night.  He  had  kept  his  secret  so  well,  that  nobody  had  the  least  idea 
what  it  was  to  be,  only  it  oozed  out  that  the  Income  Tax  was  not  to 
be  differentiated.  He  spoke  for  five  hours,  and  by  universal  consent 
it  was  one  of  the  grandest  displays  and  most  able  financial  statements 
that  ever  was  heard  in  the  House  of  Commons;  a  great  scheme,  boldly, 
skillfully,  and  honestly  devised,  disdaining  popular  clamor  and  pressure 
from  without,  and  the  execution  of  its  absolute  perfection.  Even  those 
who  do  not  admire  the  Budget,  or  who  are  injured  by  it,  admit 
the  merit  of  the  performance.  It  has  raised  Gladstone  to  a  great  po- 
litical elevation,  and,  what  is  of  far  greater  consequence  than  the 
measure  itself,  has  given  the  country  assurance  of  a  man  equal  to  great 
political  necessities,  and  fit  to  lead  parties  and  direct  governments. 

"April  22d:  I  met  Gladstone  last  night,  and  had  the  pleasure  of 
congratulating  him  and  his  wife,  which  I  did  with  great  sincerity,  for 
his  success  is  a  public  benefit.  They  have  been  overwhelmed  with  com- 
pliments and  congratulations.  Prince  Albert  and  the  Queen  both 
wrote  to  him,  and  John  Russell,  who  is  spitefully  reported  to  have 
been  jealous,  has,  on  the  contrary,  shown  the  warmest  interest  and 
satisfaction  in  his  success.  The  only  one  of  his  colleagues  who  may 
have  been  mortified  is  Charles  Wood,  who  must  have  compared  Glad- 
stone's triumph  with  his  own  failures.  From  all  one  can  see  at  present 
it  promises  certain  success,  though  many  parts  of  the  Budget  are 
caviled  at.  It  will  be  difficult,  if  not  impossible,  to  find  any  common 
ground  on  which  Radicals  or  Irish  can  join  the  Derbyites  to  over- 
throw it,  and  the  sanguine  expectations  which  the  latter  have  been 
entertaining  for  some  time,  of  putting  the  Government  into  some  in- 
explicable fix,  have  given  way  to  perplexity  and  despondency;  and 
they  evidently  do  not  know  what  to  do,  nor  how  to  give  effect  to 
their  rancor  and  spite.  Lord  Derby  had  a  great  meeting  not  many 
days  ago,  at  which  he  recommended  union,  and  cheered  them  in  oppo- 
sition, of  course,  for  form's  sake,  talking  of  moderation  and  principles, 
neither  of  which  he  cares  a  fig  for.  Mischief  and  confusion,  vengeance 
against  the  coalition,  and  taking  the  chance  of  what  may  happen  next, 
are  all  that  he  and  Disraeli  are  bent  upon.  I  met  the  latter  worthy  in 
10 


140  GLADSTONE:   A   BIOGRAPHICAL   STUDY. 

the  street  just  before  the  Budget,  a  day  or  two  previous.  He  asked 
me  what  I  thought  of  the  state  of  affairs,  and  I  told  him  I  thought 
it  very  unpleasant,  and  it  seemed  next  to  impossible  to  carry  on  the 
Government  at  all,  everybody  running  riot  in  the  House  of  Commons, 
and  following  his  own  fancies  and  crotchets;  nor  did  I  see  how  it 
could  be  otherwise  in  the  present  state  of  parties  and  the  country; 
that  since  Peel's  administration,  which  was  a  strong  Government,  there 
had  been  and  apparently  there  could  be  none.  The  present  Government 
was  not  strong,  and  they  were  perpetually  defeated,  on  minor  points, 
indeed,  but  in  a  way  that  showed  they  had  no  power  to  work  through 
Parliament.  I  said  of  course  they  would  dissolve  if  this  continued,  but 
that  Gladstone's  Budget  might  make  a  difference  one  way  or  the  other. 
Disraeli  scouted  the  idea  of  a  dissolution,  by  which,  he  said,  they  would 
certainly  gain  nothing.  Why,  he  asked,  did  not  the  Peelites  join  us 
again?  As  I  don't  want  to  quarrel  with  anybody,  I  restrained  what 
was  on  my  lips  to  say — 'You  could  not  possibly  expect  them  to  join 
you' — but  I  did  tell  him  that,  even  if  the  present  Government  could 
not  maintain  itself,  of  all  impossible  things  the  most  impossible  was  the 
restoration  of  his  Government  tale  quale,  to  which  he  made  no  reply. 
To  be  sure,  the  Protectionist  seceders  from  Peel  have  now  drunk  the 
cup  of  mortification,  disgrace,  and  disaster  to  the  very  dregs.  They 
are  a  factious  and  (as  I  hope)  impotent  Opposition,  under  the  un- 
principled guidance  of  men,  who,  clever  and  plausible  though  they  be, 
are  totally  destitute  of  wisdom,  sincerity,  and  truth.  They  have  not 
only  lost  all  the  Protection  for  the  maintenance  of  which  they  made 
such  struggles  and  sacrifices,  but  they  have  likewise  brought  upon 
themselves  the  still  heavier  blow  to  the  landed  interest  which  is  going 
to  be  inflicted  in  the  shape  of  the  legacy  duty.  Had  they  possessed 
more  foresight,  and  been  less  violent  and  unreasonable,  this  could 
not  have  happened  to  them;  for  if  .Peel's  original  Government  had 
held  together,  and  they  had  been  content  to  accept  his  guidance,  no 
Budget  would  have  contained  this  measure." 


CHAPTER    XIV. 
AFTER  THE  TRIUMPH. 

Gladstone  was  a  name  gladly  spoken  by  every  lip.  From  the  Queen 
and  the  Prince  Consort  came  a  letter  of  congratulation.  The  strongest 
and  best  men  in  all  the  realm  forwarded  words  significant  of  their 
admiration  and  confidence.  England  felt  a  thrill  of  pride  that  at  last 
her  great  Pitt  had  a  successor  worthy  to  wear  his  robes,  and  the  Op- 
position itself  took  a  just  delight  in  the  fact  that  so  skillful  and  lucid  an 
expositor  of  finance  belonged  to  the  English  nation.  Greville,  under 
date  of  May  23,  1853,  gave  an  account  of  an  interview  with  Gladstone's 
friend,  Sir  James  Graham.  The  former  says: 

"Graham  seemed  in  excellent  spirits  about  their  political  state  and 
prospects,  all  owing  to  Gladstone  and  the  complete  success  of  his 
Budget.  The  long  and  numerous  Cabinets,  which  were  attributed  by 
the  Times'  to  disunion,  were  occupied  in  minute  consideration  of  the 
Budget,  which  was  there  fully  discussed;  and  Gladstone  spoke  in  the 
Cabinet  one  day  for  three  hours  rehearsing  his  speech  in  the  House  of 

Commons,  though  not  quite  at  such  length He  talked  of  a 

future  head,  as  Aberdeen  is  always  ready  to  retire  at  any  moment;  but 
it  is  very  difficult  to  find  anyone  to  succeed  him.  I  suggested  Glad- 
stone. He  shook  his  head  and  said  it  would  not  do.  .  .  .  He  spoke 
of  the  grand  mistakes  Derby  had  made.  Gladstone's  object  certainly 
was  for  a  long  time  to  be  at  the  head  of  the  Conservative  party  in  the 
House  of  Commons,  and  to  join  with  Derby,  who  might,  in  fact,  have 
had  all  the  Peelites  if  he  would  have  chosen  to  ally  himself  with  them, 
instead  of  with  Disraeli;  thus  the  latter  had  been  the  cause  of  the  ruin 
of  the  party.  Graham  thought  that  Derby  had  committed  himself  to 
Disraeli  in  George  Bentinck's  lifetime  in  some  way  which  prevented 
his  shaking  him  off,  as  it  would  have  been  his  interest  to  do.  The 
Peelites  would  have  united  with  Derby,  but  would  have  nothing  to  do 

with  Disraeli." 

141 


142  GLADSTONE:   A   BIOGRAPHICAL   STUDY. 

Nothing  but  the  stubborn  and  bloody  fact  of  war  could  have 
thwarted  Gladstone  in  securing  for  the  English  people  the  benefits 
proposed  by  this  Budget.  But  the  Crimean  War  was  already  in  sight. 

At  this  time  in  Gladstone's  life,  as  it  would  appear  to  most  readers, 
there  was  little  time  for  composing  essays  or  studying  Homer,  but  in 
point  of  fact,  Gladstone  was  never  more  productive.  In  his  letter  to 
the  Bishop  of  Aberdeen  he  had  spoken  on  freedom  and  authority,  and 
his  words  are  of  the  utmost  value  to  those  who  would  comprehend 
that  subject  or  understand  Gladstone's  career.  He  said: 

"Miserable  would  be  the  prospect  of  the  coming  times,  if  we  be- 
lieved that  authority  and  freedom  were  simply  conflicting  and  con- 
tradictory elements  in  the  constitution  of  a  community,  so  that  what- 
ever is  given  to  the  one  must  be  deducted  from  the  other.  But  no 
Briton,  who  has  devoted  any  portion  of  his  thoughts  to  the  history 
of  his  country,  or  the  character  of  its  inhabitants,  can  for  a  moment 
be  ensnared  into  that,  for  him,  false  and  degrading  belief.  It  has  been 
providentially  allotted  to  this  favored  isle  that  it  should  show  to  all 
the  world  how  freedom  and  authority,  in  their  due  and  wise  develop- 
ments, not  only  may  coexist  in  the  same  body,  but  may,  instead  of 
impairing,  sustain  and  strengthen  one  another.  Among  Britons  it  is 
the  extent  and  security  of  freedom  which  renders  it  safe  to  entrust 
large  powers  to  Government,  and  it  is  the  very  largeness  of  those 
powers  and  the  vigor  of  their  exercise  which  constitute  to  each  indi- 
vidual of  the  community  the  great  practical  safeguard  of  his  liberties 
in  return.  The  free  expression  of  opinion,  as  our  experience  has 
taught  us,  is  the  safety-valve  of  passion.  That  noise  of  the  rushing 
steam,  when  it  escapes,  alarms  the  timid;  but  it  is  the  sign  that  we  are 
safe.  The  concession  of  reasonable  privilege  anticipates  the  growth 
of  furious  appetite/' 

At  no  time  in  his  life,  however,  was  he  more  true  to  the  England 
of  Alfred  and  Hampden.  This  was  evidenced  in  his  letter  to  the  Bishop 
of  London  on  the  Royal  Supremacy,  in  which  he  says: 

''The  monarchy  of  England  has  been  from  early  times  a  free  mon- 
archy. The  idea  of  law  was  altogether  paramount,  in  this  happy  con- 
stitution, to  that  of  any  personal  will.  Nothing  could  be  more  com- 


AFTER  THE  TRIUMPH.  143 

plete  than  the  recognition  of  the  Sovereign  as  the  source  both  of 
legislative  and  of  judicial  authority  for  the  exigencies  of  the  passing 
day;  but  it  was  the  felicity  of  this  country  that  its  people  did  not 
regard  the  labors  of  their  forefathers  as  naught.  In  such  manner  they 
realized  the  inheritance  they  had  received  from  preceding  generations, 
that  at  all  times  what  was  to  be  done  was  with  them  secondary,  and 
what  had  been  done,  primary;  and  the  highest  works  of  the  actual 
legislator  always  aimed  at  the  vindication  and  re-establishment  of  the 
labors  and  acquisitions  of  those  who  had  preceded  him.  Here  lay  the 
grand  cause  of  the  success  of  our  English  revolutions,  that  the  people 
never  rent  the  web  of  history,  but  repaired  its  rents;  never  interposed 
a  chasm  between,  never  separated,  the  national  life  of  the  present  and 
that  of  the  past,  but  even  when  they  seemed  most  violently  to  alter 
the  momentary,  always  aimed  at  recovering  the  general,  direction  of 
their  career.  Thus  everybody  knew  that  there  were  laws  superior  to 
the  Sovereign,  and  liberties  which  he  could  not  infringe;  that  he  was 
King  in  order  to  be  the  guardian  of  those  laws  and  liberties,  and  to 
direct  both  the  legislative  and  all  other  governing  powers  in  the  spirit 
which  they  breathed,  and  within  the  lines  which  they  marked  out  for 
him." 

In  the  same,  he  writes:  "A  spirit  of  trust  and  confidence  almost 
unbounded  then,  was,  and  still  is,  the  spirit  of  the  British  Constitution. 
Even  now,  after  three  centuries  of  progress  towards  democratic  sway, 
the  Crown  has  prerogatives,  by  acting  upon  which,  within  their  strict 
and  unquestioned  bounds,  it  might  at  any  time  throw  the  country  into 
confusion.  And  so  has  each  House  of  Parliament.  Why  is  this  the 
case?  Because  it  is  impossible  to  tie  down  by  literal  enactments  the 
sovereign  power  in  a  State,  since  by  virtue  of  its  sovereignty  it  can  get 
rid  of  the  limitations  imposed  upon  it,  however  strict  may  be  their 
letter.  Yet  if  that  sovereign  power  be  well  advised,  if  the  different 
elements  of  the  social  body  be  duly  represented  and  organized,  there 
arises  out  of  their  wise  adjustment  a  system  of  balance  and  limitation 
infinitely  more  effective  than  any  mere  statutory  bonds.  So  it  has  been 
in  the  State  of  England;  so,  it  might  well  be  hoped,  three  hundred 
years  ago,  that  it  would  be  with  the  Church." 


144  GLADSTONE:   A   BIOGRAPHICAL   STUDY. 

/» 

Steadily  as  he  was  traveling  in  the  direction  of  Liberalism,  so 
strongly  also  did  he  adhere  to  the  great  and  fundamental  principles  of 
English  constitutional  Government. 

But  there  could  be  no  question  that  Gladstone  saw  in  the  progress 
of  these  events,  and  felt  in  his  own  experience  that  England  needed 
to  be  told  over  and  over  again  to  do  what  we  here  in  America  see  was 
and  is  characteristic  of  the  progress  of  every  free  government.  He 
said: 

"As  we  follow  the  course  of  history,  we  find  that  unwise  con- 
cession has  been  the  parent  of  many  evils.  But  unwise  resistance  is 
answerable  for  many  more;  nay,  is  too  frequently  the  primary  source 
of  the  mischief  ostensibly  arising  from  the  opposite  policy,  because 
it  is  commonly  unwise  resistance  which  so  dams  up  the  stream  and 
accumulates  the  waters  that,  when  the  day  of  their  bursting  comes, 
they  are  absolutely  ungovernable.  A  little  modicum  of  time,  indeed, 
may  thus  be  realized  by  gigantic  labors  in  repression,  during  which 
not  even  the  slightest  ripple  shall  be  audible.  And  within  that  little 
time  statesmen,  dressed  in  their  brief  authority,  may  claim  credit  with 
the  world  for  the  peremptory  assertion  of  power;  and  for  having 
crushed,  as  the  phrase  goes  at  Naples,  the  hydra  of  revolution.  But 
every  hour  of  that  time  is  not  bought,  it  is  borrowed,  and  borrowed 
at  a  rate  of  interest,  with  which  the  annals  of  usury  itself  have  nothing 
to  compare.  The  hydra  of  revolution  is  not  really  to  be  crushed  by 
the  attempt  to  crush,  or  even  by  momentary  success  in  crushing,  under 
the  name  of  revolution,  a  mixed  and  heterogeneous  mass  of  influences, 
feelings,  and  opinions,  bound  together  absolutely  by  nothing  except 
repugnance  to  the  prevailing  rigors  and  corruptions.  Viewed  as  mere 
matter  of  policy,  this  is  simply  to  undertake  the  service  of  enlistment 
for  the  army  of  the  foe.  It  is  a  certain  proposition  that,  when  a  Gov- 
ernment thus  treats  enmity  to  abuse  as  identical  with  purposes  of  sub- 
version, it,  according  to  the  laws  of  our  mixed  nature,  partially  amal- 
gamates the  two,  and  fulfills  at  length  its  own  miserable  predictions 
in  its  own  more  miserable  ruin." 


CHAPTER   XV. 
THE  CRIMEAN  WAR. 

In  spite  of  all  that  the  great  powers  of  Europe  could  do,  the  war 
in  the  Crimea  assumed  its  fearful  proportions,  and  the  Government  was 
committed  to  projects  which  left  Gladstone's  brilliant  achievements  a 
series  of  proposals  that  could  not  be  carried  out.  Nevertheless  the 
finances  under  Gladstone's  administration  improved  progressively,  and 
in  spite  of  the  dark  cloud  which  broke  forth  in  desolating  war  from  the 
East,  England  was  prosperous  in  trade,  manufacture  and  agriculture.  In 
the  matter  of  the  Crimean  War,  Mr.  Gladstone  offered  his  opposition 
with  sober  strength,  and  seemed  willing,  if  not  to  trust,  at  least  to  ap- 
prove all  schemes  for  peace,  before  admitting  the  necessity  for  bloody 
strife.  The  war,  of  course,  was  opposed  most  strenuously  by  all 
who  accepted  the  leadership  of  John  Bright  in  the  name  of  peace.  On 
the  3ist  of  March,  1854,  Parliament  received  the  Royal  message,  and 
Bright  threw  himself  heart  and  soul  into  antagonism.  Mr.  Gladstone 
referred  afterwards  to  this  occurrence  in  the  following  language: 

"We  ought  to  be  ready,"  said  he,  "as  my  right  hon.  friend,  Mr. 
Bright,  showed  himself  to  be  ready  at  the  time  of  the  Crimean  War  to 
lay  his  popularity  as  a  sacrifice — (loud  cheers) — upon  the  altar  of  his 
duty,  I  will  say  without  a  moment  of  regret,  because  I  am  sure  that  to 
a  man  of  his  feelings  and  strong  sympathies  it  must  have  been  a  matter 
of  regret  to  find  himself  less  in  harmony  for  a  time  with  the  sentiment 
of  that  day  than  he  had  been  heretofore.  Perhaps  with  many  senti- 
ments, many  moments  of  regret,  but  without  one  sentiment  or  one 
moment  of  hesitation.  (Cheers.)  That,  in  my  opinion,  is  the  conduct 
which  beyond  all  others  ennobles  the  man  that  pursues  it  and  the 
country  that  produces  such  men.  It  is  not  every  one  who  has  the 
opportunity  of  making  such  splendid  offerings  to  duty  as  he  did,  be- 
cause it  is  not  every  one  that  can  accumulate  the  stock  of  public 

145 


146  GLADSTONE:  A   BIOGRAPHICAL   STUDY. 

approbation  and  esteem  out  of  which  alone  they  can  be  made.  But 
every  one  of  us  can,  from  early  life  onwards,  to  some  extent  imitate 
such  conduct,  though  we  may  be  content  to  labor  in  the  dark — con- 
tent to  labor  under  suspicion,  content  to  labor  under  reproach,  well 
assured  that  if  we  keep  the  pole-star  of  duty  well  fixed  in  our  vision 
we  never  shall  fail  to  reach  the  end  which  we  have  in  view,  as  far  as  it 
involves  the  good  of  the  country,  and  to  reach  such  mode  and  measure 
of  public,  approval  as  may  be  good  and  sufficient  for  ourselves."  (Hear, 
hear.) 

Gladstone  remained  in  his  position,  even  though  he  had  been  fight- 
ing against  the  drift  of  things  toward  war,  and  he  stood  because  he 
believed  if  he  resigned  a  war  ministry  would  be  formed  immediately. 

He  afterwards  wrote  of  the  war,  in  his  review  of  Sir  Theodore 
Martin's  Life  of  the  Prince  Consort: 

"At  the  outset,  the  quarrel  was  one  between  Russia  and  France  in 
regard  to  ecclesiastical  privileges  at  the  Holy  Places.  England  was 
but  an  amicus  curiae;  and,  in  that  capacity,  she  thought  Russia  in  the 
right.  As,  however,  the  communications  went  on,  the  Czar,  unfortu- 
nately, committed  his  case  to  a  special  envoy,  Prince  Menschikoff, 
whose  demands  upon  the  Porte  appeared  to  the  British  Government 
to  render  harmony  in  the  Turkish  Empire,  if  they  should  be  accepted, 
thenceforth  impossible.  In  the  further  stages  of  the  correspondence, 
which  had  thus  shifted  its  ground,  we  found  ourselves  in  company 
with  France;  and  not  with  France  only,  but  with  Europe.  At  one 
particular  point,  it  must  in  fairness  be  allowed  that  Russia,  with  her 
single  rapier,  had  all  her  antagonists  at  a  disadvantage.  They  had 
collectively  accepted,  and  they  proposed  to  her  a  Note,  known  as  the 
Vienna  Note,  which  she  also  accepted;  and  they  afterwards  receded 
from  it,  upon  objection  taken  to  it  by  Turkey.  Russia,  however, 
covered  the  miscarriage  of  her  opponents  by  sustaining  the  Turkish 
interpretation  of  the  words,  and  thus  sheltered  their  retreat  from  the 
support  of  the  document  they  themselves  had  framed.  But  it  was  not 
upon  this  miscarriage  that  the  dispute  came  to  a  final  issue.  The 
broken  threads  of  negotiation  were  pieced  together;  and,  about  the 
time  when  the  year  expired,  a  new  instrument,  of  a  moderate  and 


THE  CRIMEAN  WAR.  147 

conciliatory  character,  was  framed  at  Constantinople,  and  approved 
by  the  Cabinets  of  the  five  Powers,  still  in  unbroken  union.  It  was 
the  rejection  of  this  plan  by  the  Emperor  Nicholas,  when  it  was  pre- 
sented to  him  in  January,  1854,  and  not  his  refusal  of  the  Turkish 
amendments  to  the  Vienna  Note,  that  brought  about  the  war  in  the 
following  March. 

"That  war  passed  through  all  the  phases  of  popularity;  the  people, 
and  especially  the  newspapers,  were  so  fond  of  it  while  it  lasted,  that 
they  were,  as  we  have  seen,  reluctant  to  let  it  end.  It  is  an  unquestion- 
able fact,  that  Mr.  Cobden  and  Mr.  Bright,  who  stoutly  and  most  dis- 
interestedly opposed  it,  and  who,  with  the  bloom  of  the  Corn  Law 
triumph  upon  them,  were  before  it  began  the  most  popular  men  in  the 
country,  lost  for  the  time,  by  their  opposition  to  it,  all  hold  upon  the 
general  public.  The  war,  however,  soon  and  even  rapidly  waned  in 
favor.  At  length  it  came  to  be  looked  upon  by  many,  if  not  by  most, 
as  an  admitted  folly.  The  nation  appeared  to  have  come  round  to 
the  opinion  of  Cobden  and  of  Bright.  And  yet  the  war  had  attained 
its  purpose;  which  was,  to  repress  effectually  the  aggression  of  Russia, 
and  to  secure  to  Turkey  breathing-time  and  full  scope  for  the  reform  of 
its  government. 

"It  may  be  said  that,  after  all,  she  did  not  reform  her  government. 
Most  true;  but  it  is  only  within  a  short  time  that  this  fact  has  become 
at  all  generally  known  to  our  countrymen.  And,  moreover,  this  re- 
form was  not,  properly  speaking,  the  object  of  the  war,  but  rather  an 
aim  incidental  to  the  conditions  of  the  Peace.  Why,  then,  did  it  fall 
into  disfavor?  Because  men  estimated  its  object,  not  as  it  was  drawn 
out  in  the  minds  of  the  statesmen  who  made  the  war,  but  according 
to  their  own  unauthorized  and  exaggerated  ideas  of  its  aim,  and  of  the 
position  of  the  several  parties.  Turkey,  it  had  been  too  commonly 
held,  was  a  young  and  vigorous  country,  only  waiting  an  open  and 
calm  atmosphere  to  break  out  into  the  beauty  and  bloom  of  a  young 
civilization.  Russia  was  to  be  cut  into  morsels,  or  at  the  least  to  be 
crippled  by  the  amputation  of  important  members.  The  extravagance 
of  these  anticipations  led  to  disappointment;  and  the  disappointment, 


148  GLADSTONE:   A   BIOGRAPHICAL   STUDY. 

for  which  people  had  themselves,  or  perhaps  their  newspapers,  to  thank, 
was  avenged  upon  the  Crimean  War. 

"The  persons  who  are  really  entitled  to  vaunt  their  foresight  in  this 
matter,  as  superior  alike  to  the  views  of  Sovereigns  and  of  statesmen, 
are  the  few,  the  very  few,  who  objected  to  the  war  from  the  beginning 
to  the  end,  and  who  founded  this  objection  not  upon  a  philanthropic 
yet  scarcely  rational  proscription  of  war  under  all  circumstances  and 
conditions,  but  upon  a  deeper  insight  into  the  nature  and  foundations 
of  Mahometan  power  over  Christian  races,  than  had  fallen  to  the  lot 
either  of  diplomacy  or  of  statesmanship.  Of  these,  perhaps  the  most 
distinguished  are  Mr.  Freeman  and  Dr.  Newman,  both  of  whom  in 
1853  proclaimed  the  hopeless  nature,  not  of  the  Ottoman  as  such,  but 
of  the  Ottoman  ascendancy.  Both  have  republished  their  works  of  that 
date,  and  Mr.  Freeman  has  taken  a  most  active  and  able  part  in  all  the 
recent  controversies;  in  which,  to  the  surprise  of  many  admirers,  the 
living  voice  of  Dr.  Newman  has  not  once  been  heard." 

But  Mr.  Gladstone  had  been  heard.  The  war  had  come,  with  its 
desolations,  its  terrible  blunders,  its  heroisms,  and  its  attendant  ex- 
pense. In  1854  Mr.  Gladstone  offered  his  Budget,  but  the  circum- 
stances contrasted  widely  with  those  of  a  year  previous.  Yet  the 
Finance  Minister  was  sure  footed  and  able.  Greville  writes: 

"May  7th:  The  failure  of  Gladstone's  Exchequer  Bill  scheme  has 
been  very  injurious  to  the  Government,  and  particularly  to  him.  The 
prodigious  applause  and  admiration  with  which  he  was  greeted  last 
year  have  given  way  to  distrust  and  apprehension  of  him  as  a  finance 
minister,  and  the  repeated  failures  of  his  different  schemes  here  in  a 
very  short  time  materially  damaged  his  reputation,  and  destroyed  the 
prestige  of  his  great  abilities.  All  practical  men  in  the  city  severely 
blame  him  for  having  exposed  himself  to  the  defeat  thus  sustained. 
The  consequences  will  not  probably  be  serious,  but  the  Government 
is  weakened  by  it,  and  the  diminution  of  public  confidence  in  Glad- 
stone is  a  public  misfortune." 

Greville  adds,  under  date  of  May  7th  and  loth,  1854,  the  follow- 
ing: 

"May  7th:    It  is  scarcely  a  year  ago  that  I  was  writing  enthusiastic 


THE  CRIMEAN  WAR.  149 

panegyrics  on  Gladstone,  and  describing  him  as  the  great  ornament 
and  support  of  the  Government,  and  as  the  future  Prime  Minister. 
This  was  after  the  prodigious  success  of  his  first  Budget  and  his  able 
speeches,  but  a  few  months  seem  to  have  overturned  all  his  power  and 
authority.  I  hear  nothing  but  complaints  of  his  rashness  and  passion 
for  his  experiments;  and  on  all  sides,  from  men,  for  example,  like 
Tom  Baring  and  Robarts,  one  a  Tory,  the  other  a  Whig,  that  the  city 
and  the  moneyed  men  have  lost  all  confidence  in  him.  To-morrow 
night  he  is  to  make  his  financial  statement,  and  intense  curiosity  pre- 
vails to  see  how  he  will  provide  the  ways  and  means  for  carrying  on  the 
war.  Everybody  expects  that  he  will  make  an  able  speech;  but  bril- 
liant speeches  do  not  produce  great  effect,  and  more  anxiety  is  felt 
for  the  measures  he  will  propose  than  for  the  dexterity  and  ingenuity 
he  may  display  for  proposing  them.  Parliament  is  ready  to  vote 
without  grumbling  any  money  that  is  asked  for,  and  as  yet  at  the  very 
beginning  of  this  horrible  mess,  and  the  people  are  still  looking  with 
eager  interest  to  the  successes  they  anticipate,  and  have  not  yet  begun 
to  feel  the  cost. 

"May  loth:  Gladstone  made  a  great  speech  on  Monday  night. 
He  spoke  for  nearly  four  hours,  occupying  the  first  half  of  the  time 
in  an  elaborate  and  not  unsuccessful  defense  of  his  former  measures. 
His  speech  was  certainly  very  able,  was  well  received,  and  the  Budget 
pronounced  an  honorable  and  creditable  one.  If  he  had  chosen  to 
sacrifice  his  conscientious  convictions  to  popularity,  he  might  have 
gained  a  great  amount  of  the  latter  by  proposing  a  loan,  and  no  more 
taxes  than  would  be  necessary  for  the.  interest  of  it.  I  do  not  yet  know 
whether  his  defense  of  his  abortive  schemes  has  satisfied  the  monetary 
critics.  It  was  certainly  very  plausible,  and  will  be  probably  sufficient 
for  the  uninformed  and  the  half-informed,  who  cannot  detect  any 
fallacies  which  may  lurk  within  it.  He  attacked  some  of  his  opponents 
with  great  severity,  particularly  Disraeli  and  Monteagle,  but  I  doubt  if 
this  was  prudent.  He  flung  about  his  sarcasms  upon  .smaller  fry,  and 
this  certainly  was  not  discreet.  I  think  this  speech  has  been  of  service 
to  his  financial  character,  and  done  a  good  deal  towards  the  restora- 
tion of  his  credit." 


150  GLADSTONE:   A   BIOGRAPHICAL   STUDY. 

The  Crimean  War  had  made  it  impossible  for  him  to  go  far  in 
financial  reform.  Lord  John  Russell  and  he  were  both  pained  because 
their  plans  had  been  broken  in  upon  by  the  strife,  and  taxation  had 
been  increased.  He  asked  the  House  of  Commons  to  double  the 
income  tax  so  long  as  the  war  lasted,  in  order  that  posterity  might 
not  have  to  pay  the  chief  cost  of  the  war.  Gladstone  had  spoken  amidst 
the  applause  of  a  great  nation.  He  said,  among  other  things: 

"We  have  entered  upon  a  great  struggle,  but  we  have  entered 
upon  it  under  favorable  circumstances.  We  have  proposed  to  you 
to  make  great  efforts,  and  you  have  nobly  and  cheerfully  backed  our 
proposals.  You  have  already  by  your  votes  added  nearly  40,000  men 
to  the  establishments  of  the  country ;  and  taking  into  account  changes 
that  have  actually  been  carried  into  effect  with  regard  to  the  return  of 
soldiers  from  the  Colonies,  and  the  arrangements  which,  in  the  present 
state  of  Ireland,  might  be  made — but  which  are  not  made — with  respect 
to  the  constabulary  force,  in  order  to  render  the  military  force  dis- 
posable to  the  utmost  possible  extent,  it  is  not  too  much  to  say  that 
we  have  virtually  an  addition  to  the  disposable  forces  of  the  country, 
by  land  and  by  sea,  at  the  present  moment,  as  compared  with  our 
position  twelve  months  ago,  to  the  extent  of  nearly  50,000  men.  This 
looks  like  your  intention  to  carry  on  your  war  with  vigor,  and  the  wish 
and  hope  of  Her  Majesty's  Government  is,  that  that  may  be  truly  said 
of  the  people  of  England,  with  regard  to  this  war,  which  was,  I  am 
afraid,  not  so  truly  said  of  Charles  II.  by  a  courtly  but  great  poet, 
Dryden — 

He  without  fear  a  dangerous  war  pursues, 
Which  without  rashness  he  began  before. 

That,  we  trust,  will  be  the  motto  of  the  people  of  England;  and  you 
have  this  advantage,  that  the  sentiment  of  Europe,  and  we  trust  the 
might  of  Europe,  is  with  you.  These  circumstances — though  we  must 
not  be  sanguine,  though  it  would  be  the  wildest  presumption  for  any 
man  to  say,  when  the  ravages  of  European  war  had  once  begun,  where 
and  at  what  point  it  would  be  stayed — these  circumstances  justify  us 
in  cherishing  the  hope  that  possibly  this  may  not  be  a  long  war." 


THE  CRIMEAN  WAR.  151 

He  wrote  years  afterward  in  his  review  of  "The  Life  of  the  Prince 
Consort,"  of  the  events  of  this  time: 

"The  attachment  of  the  Sovereign  and  her  Consort  to  Sir  Robert 
Peel,  the  Duke  of  Wellington,  and  Lord  Aberdeen,  led  them  to  watch 
with  interest  the  working  of  the  Aberdeen  Cabinet,  in  which  the  Peelites 
held  no  less  than  six  offices,  besides  having  four  members  of  their  small 
party  in  the  most  important  positions  outside  the  Cabinet.  The  six 
Cabinet  Ministers  were  Lord  Aberdeen,  the  Duke  of  Argyll,*  Sir  James 
Graham,  the  Duke  of  Newcastle,  Mr.  Gladstone,  and  Mr.  Sydney 
Herbert.  The  four  outside  the  door  were  Mr.  Cardwell  at  the  Board 
of  Trade,  Lord  Canning  at  the  Post  Office,  Lord  St.  Germans,  Viceroy 
of  Ireland,  and  Sir  John  Young,  Chief  Secretary.  Another  Cabinet 
Minister,  Sir  William  Molesworth,  was  perhaps  more  nearly  associated 
with  them  than  with  the  Whigs.  Holding  this  large  share  of  official 
power,  the  Peelites  did  not  bring  more  than  about  thirty  independent 
votes  to  the  support  of  the  Ministry,  in  addition  to  which  they  neutral- 
ized the  Opposition  of  perhaps  as  many  more  members  who  sat  on  the 
other  side  of  the  House.  Mr.  Martin  says  (p.  90),  'It  was  apparent 
to  all  the  world  that  no  cordial  unanimity  existed  between  the  Peelite 
section  of  the  Ministry  and  their  colleagues.' 

"This  is  an  entire  mistake.  It  must  be  stated,  to  the  credit  of  all 
parties,  but  especially  of  the  Whig  section  of  that  Cabinet,  that  although 
the  proportions  of  official  power  were  so  different  from  those  of  the 
voting  strength  in  Parliament,  there  was  no  sectional  demarcation,  nor 
any  approach  to  it,  within  the  Cabinet.  In  proof  of  this  statement,  it 
may  be  mentioned  that  when,  in  the  recess  of  1853-4,  Lord  Palmerston 
had  resigned  his  office  on  account  of  the  impending  Reform  Bill,  and 
it  was  desired  to  induce  him  to  reconsider  his  decision,  the  two  persons 
who  were  chosen  for  the  duty  of  communicating  to  him  the  wish  of  his 
colleagues  were  the  Duke  of  Newcastle  and  Mr.  Gladstone* 


*  The  Duke  of  Argyll  was  invited  at  a  very  early  age,  on  account  of 
his  high  personal  character  and  his  talent,  to  enter  the  Cabinet  of  Lord 
Aberdeen,  but  he  did  not  belong  to  the  ex-official  corps  who  passed  by 
the  name  of  Peelites,  while  he  was  in  political  accordance  with  them- 


CHAPTER  XVI. 
A  NEW  GOVERNMENT. 

On  the  25th  of  January,  1855,  Mr.  Roebuck  began  his  attack  upon 
the  Ministry.  It  was  a  censure  on  the  War  Department  and  the  con- 
duct of  the  war.  Lord  Russell  wrote  to  Aberdeen,  telling  him  his  only 
course  was  to  tender  his  resignation.  Soon  the  Ministry  had  resigned. 
Lord  Russell  and  Lord  Derby  each  failed  to  form  an  administration, 
and  on  the  6th  of  February,  1855,  it  was  announced  in  the  House  of 
Lords  by  Lord  Granville  that  a  government  had  been  constituted. 
Lord  Palmerston  was  at  the  head.  "The  inevitable  man"  was  active  at 
the  outset.  Mr.  Gladstone,  with  his  friends,  Sir  James  Graham  and  Mr. 
Sidney  Herbert,  still  antagonized  the  forces  which  caused  Lord  Aber- 
deen to  resign.  Mr.  Gladstone  was  succeeded  in  office  by  his  school- 
mate of  other  days,  Sir  George  Cornewall  Lewis.  The  triumvirate 
which  was  formed  by  Herbert,  Gladstone  and  Sir  James  Graham  was 
described  by  Gladstone  as  "a  set  of  roving  icebergs,  on  which  men  could 
land  with  safety,  but  with  which  ships  might  come  into  perilous  col- 
lision." 

When  the  year  1856  closed,  the  heavens  were  brighter,  for  peace 
had  come,  and  any  difficulties  with  the  United  States  on  the  Enlistment 
question  had  vanished  away.  England  and  the  other  European  powers 
were  satisfied  with  each  other,  and  all  seemed  to  point  toward  an  era 
of  prosperity  for  the  English  people.  It  was  no  doubt  the  desire  of 
Gladstone  at  this  time  to  pursue  his  task  of  fiscal  reform.  On  the  3d 
of  February,  1857,  Parliament  was  opened.  Mr.  Cobden  soon  made  his 
motion  condemning  the  conduct  of  the  Government  and  proposing 
an  inquiry  into  the  state  of  England's  commercial  relations  with  China. 
In  this  debate  Gladstone  became  involved  in  fierce  controversy  with 
Lord  Palmerston  who  defended  the  Government.  The  point  upon 
which  the  discussion  turned  was  very  unimportant,  apparently,  but  the 

152 


A  NEW  GOVERNMENT*  153 

debate  brought  Lord  Palmerston  within  sight  of  a  resignation.  The 
Government,  however,  determined  not  to  resign,  but  to  dissolve.  The 
electoral  conflict  was  immediately  on,  and  Mr.  Gladstone  was  every- 
where eloquent  and  forceful  as  he  journeyed  through  the  country  de- 
livering his  glowing  and  patriotic  addresses.  Cobden,  Bright,  Milner 
Gibson  and  Fox,  were  rejected  by  their  constituents,  and  Bright  took 
leave  of  the  electors  of  Manchester  in  a  speech  calm,  dignified,  yet 
deeply  pathetic.  Lord  John  Russell  stood  third  on  the  poll  for  the 
City  of  London,  and  it  was  evident  that  the  constituencies  supported 
and  approved  Palmerston,  whom  Disraeli  had  called  "the  Tory  chief 
of  a  Radical  Cabinet."  Any  chance  for  Gladstone's  fiscal  reform  seemed 
indefinitely  removed;  but  in  the  first  session  of  the  new  Parliament 
Gladstone  found  himself  eagerly  engaged  in  a  contest  against  the  pass- 
ing of  a  divorce  bill  which  strongly  offended  his  ecclesiastical  and  highly 
conservative  sensibilities  and  convictions.  Many  times  the  proposal 
to  "facilitate  the  breaking  of  marriage  bonds,"  as  he  saw  it,  had 
come  to  the  front,  and  had  occupied  a  large  share  of  legislative  atten- 
tion. The  Prime  Minister  now  stood  behind  it,  and  the  measure  was 
carried,  in  spite  of  conscientious  and  enthusiastic  opposition. 

It  is  very  easy  for  a  less  grave  and  strenuous  soul  to  misunderstand 
the  earnestness  of  such  a  man  as  Gladstone  when  he  knew  that  such 
another  man  as  Palmerston  was  utterly  reckless  of  the  command  of 
great  moral  sentiments.  While  Palmerston  never  really  believed  that 
any  man  need  to  care  a  penny  for  ancient  wrongs,  which  ever  tend  to 
become  venerable  to  that  class  of  men,  Gladstone's  grave  and  chaster 
spirit  chafed  at  the  very  thought  of  their  existence,  and  if  he  was 
fierce  in  his  attack  upon  Palmerston,  or  "anxious  to  be  in  office,"  as 
has  been  so  often  said  of  him,  it  was  because  he  saw  crouching  behind 
such  a  figure  as  Palmerston  gigantic  evils  which  the  progress  of  man- 
kind must  extirpate,  and  he  discerned  in  office  the  opportunity  for 
such  a  man  as  Gladstone  proved  himself  to  be,  to  strike,  and  strike 
home,  against  respectable  evil. 

When  Palmerston  resigned  early  in  1858,  he  had  the  joy  of  remem- 
bering that  his  Chinese  policy  had  been  victorious,  and  Canton  had 
surrendered  to  the  armies  of  England.  It  was  with  much  difficulty 


154  GLADSTONE:   A   BIOGRAPHICAL   STUDY. 

that  Lord  Derby,  under  command  of  his  Sovereign,  constituted  a  gov- 
ernment. He  was  conscious  that  he  had  on  hand  very  serious  prob- 
lems. Disraeli  was,  however,  able  to  announce  in  Parliament  that  the 
peace  between  England  and  France,  which  was  threatened,  was  more 
strong  and  promising  than  ever,  now  that  the  reply  had  been  given  to 
the  note  of  Count  Walewski,  the  minister  of  foreign  affairs  at  Paris, 
who  had  accused  England  of  harboring  such  criminals  as  had  attacked 
the  French  Emperor.  Gladstone  at  this  time  was  studying  profoundly 
both  his  Homer  and  his  schemes  for  financial  reform.  He,  however, 
could  not  allow  his  Government  to  make  a  slight  answer  to  the  charges 
of  France.  Some  one  must  explain  the  law  of  England,  as  it  had  to  do 
with  a  criminal,  who,  having  gone  from  London  to  Paris,  had  attacked 
the  Emperor  of  the  French.  Gladstone  spoke  noble  words  in  Parlia- 
ment. He  believed  in  the  law  of  England,  and  he  urged  that  that -law 
should  be  vindicated.  His  spirit  would  not  for  a  moment  permit  him 
or  his  country  to  "lie  under  a  cloud  of  accusation,"  of  which  "the  law," 
at  least,  was  "totally  innocent."  He  added: 

These  times  are  grave  for  liberty.  We  live  in  the  nineteenth  century, 
we  talk  of  progress;  we  believe  that  we  are  advancing,  but  can  any  man 
of  observation  who  has  watched  the  events  of  the  last  few  years  in  Europe 
have  failed  to  perceive  that  there  is  a  movement  indeed,  but  a  downward 
and  backward  movement?  There  are  a  few  spots  in  which  institutions  that 
claim  our  sympathy  still  exist  and  flourish.  They  are  secondary  places — 
nay,  they  are  almost  the  holes  and  corners  of  Europe  so  far  as  mere  material 
greatness  is  concerned,  although  their  moral  greatness  will,  I  trust,  ensure 
them  long  prosperity  and  happiness.  But  in  these  times  more  than  ever 
does  responsibility  center  upon  the  institutions  of  England;  and  if  it  does 
center  upon  England,  upon  her  principles,  upon  her  laws,  and  upon  her 
governors,  then  I  say  that  a  measure  passed  by  this  House  of  Com- 
mons— the  chief  hope  of  freedom — which  attempts  to  establish  a  moral 
complicity  between  us  and  those  who  seek  safety  in  repressive  measures, 
will  be  a  blow  and  a  discouragement  to  that  sacred  cause  in  every  country 
in  the  world. 

Disraeli's  India  Bill  did  not  demand  Gladstone's  fierce  denunciation 
to  render  it  sufficiently  unpopular  and  to  give  it  no  chance  for  a  second 
reading.  A  compromise  was  offered  in  July  on  the  aggravating  sub- 


A  NEW  GOVERNMENT.  155 

ject  of  Jewish  Disabilities,  and  the  oath  was  administered  in  the  Lower 
House  to  Baron  Rothschild.  Bright  was  arguing  eloquently  for  a 
larger  franchise,  and  Lord  Derby  and  Disraeli  were  becoming  con- 
scious that  reform  must  be  made  strongly  and  at  once  or  there  was 
danger  of  their  government  being  overwhelmed. 

In  1859,  after  changes  in  the  Ministry  almost  unmatched  in  number 
in  any  generation  in  England,  Mr.  Gladstone  acceded  to  the  Ministry 
and  confronted  a  contest  for  his  seat  for  the  University  of  Oxford. 
There  was  no  longer  any  question  that  Gladstone  was  grandly  in- 
consistent with  his  past.  More  and  more  clearly  defined  was  the  hither- 
to vague  Liberalism  of  this  man  whom  Macaulay  had  once  called  "the 
hope  of  those  stern  and  unbending  Tories."  Oxford  was  becoming  a 
little  restive,  but  even  Oxford  was  charmed  with  him  and  proud  withal 
when  once  more  he  introduced  a  Budget,  and  on  the  i8th  of  July  made 
another  splendid  exposition  of  financial  principles,  creating  genuine 
enthusiasm  as  he  spoke  of  penny  stamps,  bankers'  checks,  malt  credits, 
and  the  like.  Fortunately,  prosperity  revived,  and  the  year's  revenue 
exceeded  that  of  any  previous  year  by  more  than  two  million  pounds. 
Verily  Gladstone  had  Providence  with  him. 

People  are  not  usually  anxious  for  reform  when  they  are  prosperous 
in  the  most  worldly  sense,  and  this  was  a  time  when  nobody  was  de- 
manding it  and  nobody  feared  it.  It  was  therefore  a  good  time  for 
moderate  counsels.  Mr.  Disraeli  had  agreed  to  yield  as  much  as  Lord 
John  Russell  desired,  and  the  Queen's  speech  indicated  that  the  Govern- 
ment was  willing  to  put  a  broader,  firmer  basis  under  national  repre- 
sentation. Cobden  was  arranging  a  treaty  with  France,  and  free  trade 
had  its  widest  victory  in  that  commercial  amity  which  took  the  form 
of  the  treaty. 

In  all  this  discussion,  Mr.  Gladstone  never  failed  to  recognize  the 
excellent  service  of  men  who  differed,  from  him  in  temperament  and 
oftentimes  in  the  means  employed  to  the  end  of  national  growth  and 
safe  constitutional  development.  An  example  of  this  may  be  found  in 
the  fact  that  when  Mr.  Gladstone  introduced  his  Budget,  which  set 
forth  the  provisions  of  the  treaty  making  peace,  he  said  of  Cobden: 

"It  is  a  great  privilege  of  any  man  who,  having  fifteen  years  ago  ren- 


156  GLADSTONE:   A   BIOGRAPHICAL   STUDY. 

dered  to  his  country  one  important  and  signal  service,  now  enjoys  the 
singular  good  fortune  of  having  in  his  power — undecorated,  bearing 
no  mark  of  rank  or  title  from  his  sovereign,  or  from  the  people — to 
perform  another  signal  service  in  the  same  cause  for  the  benefit  of,  I 
hope,  a  not  ungrateful  country." 

It  was  a  singularly  shrewd,  if  it  had  not  been  a  perfectly  just,  recog- 
nition of  the  man  who  had  completed  commercial  relations  with  France, 
and  who  was  so  intimately  associated  with  one  who  was  so  intolerant  of 
war  as  Mr.  Bright.  The  latter  had  no  hesitancy  in  creating  a  progres- 
sive opinion  in  behalf  of  peace  and  thus  enabling  the  Chancellor  of  the 
Exchequer  to  deal  with  other  problems. 

"Politically,"  observed  Mr.  Bright,  "I  live  and  move  and  have  my 
being  only  in  the  hope  that  I  may  advance  the  cause  of  truth  and  your 
cause,  if  only  by  a  single  step.  (Cheers.)  If  I  tell  you  that  peace  and 
peaceful  industry  is  your  path  of  wisdom  and  of  greatness;  if  I  say 
it  is  your  taxes  that  are  spent,  your  sweat  which  is  pawned,  your  blood 
which  is  shed  in  war,  am  I  the  less  your  countryman?  (Loud  cheers 
and  cries  of  "No.")  If  your  Sunday  prayer  for  peace  be  not  a  mockery 
and  offensive  in  the  sight  of  Heaven,  then  I  am  justified  in  denouncing, 
as  I  now  heartily  denounce,  them  who  in  the  Parliament  or  in  your 
Press  are  striving  to  involve  the  most  potent  nations  of  the  earth  in  the 
crimes  and  in  the  calamities  of  war."  (Loud  cheers.) 

Gladstone  seemed  to  handle  the  finances  with  so  sure  a  grasp  that 
England  gave  Providence  no  particular  praise  for  a  state  of  things  in 
which  the  able  Finance  Minister  appeared  positively  brilliant. 

April  25th,  1858,  Greville  tells  us  of  the  attack  Gladstone  made  upon 
Palmerston,  in  his  review  article  in  the  Quarterly  on  France  and  the 
Ministry: 

"April  29th :  Every  day  the  position  of  the  Government  gets  worse. 
The  disposition  there  was  to  give  them  a  fair  opportunity  of  carrying 
on  public  affairs  as  well  as  they  could  has  given  way  to  disgust  and 
contempt  at  their  blundering  and  stupidity,  and  those  who  have  all 
along  resented  their  attempt  to  hold  office  at  all  are  becoming  more  im- 
patient and  more  anxious  to  turn  them  out.  There  is  a  very  temperate, 
but  very  just,  article  in  the  Times'  to-day,  which  contains  all  that  is 


A  NEW  GOVERNMENT.  157 

to  be  said  on  the  subject,  stated  without  bitterness  or  exaggeration. 
The  Whigs,  however,  seem  aware  that  it  is  not  expedient  to  push  such 
matters  to  extremity,  and  to  force  their  resignation,  until  the  quarrels 
of  the  Liberal  party  are  made  up,  and  till  Palmerston  and  John  Russell 
are  brought  together  and  prepared  to  join  in  taking  office,  and  to  effect 
this  object  the  most  tremendous  effort  are  making.  What  the  pacifi- 
cators aim  at  is,  that  Palmerston  should  go  as  Premier  to  the  House  of 
Lords,  and  leave  Lord  John  to  lead  the  House  of  Commons.  This  is 
the  most  reasonable  compromise,  and  one  which  ought  to  be  satis- 
factory to  both;  but  even  if  this  leading  condition  were  agreed  to,  it  is 
not  certain  that  there  might  not  be  other  presenting  great  obstacles 
to  the  union,  such  as  whether  Lord  John  would  agree  to  join  without 
bringing  a  certain  number  of  men  with  him,  and  whether  Palmerston 
would  consent  to  exclude  so  many  of  his  former  Cabinet  to  make  room 
for  them.  Graham,  Lord  John  would,  I  suppose,  certainly  insist  upon; 
Gladstone  would  probably  be  no  party  to  any  arrangement,  and  he  has 
recently  evinced  his  extreme  antipathy  to  Palmerston  by  a  bitter 
though  able  review  in  the  'Quarterly'  on  France  and  the  late  Ministry, 
in  which  he  attacks  Palmerston  with  extraordinary  asperity. 

"Ever  since  he  resigned,  Palmerston  has  been  very  active  in  the 
House  of  Commons,  and  kept  himself  constantly  before  the  public, 
evidently  with  the  object  of  recovering  his  former  popularity  as  much 
as  possible,  and  he  made  a  very  clever  and  lively  speech  two  nights 
ago,  which  his  friends  praise  up  to  the  skies. 

"I  met  Derby  yesterday,  and  soon  after  the  Chancellor  in  Pic- 
cadilly, and  had  some  talk  with  both  of  them.  They  were  neither  of 
them  in  a  very  sanguine  mood,  and  apparently  well  aware  of  the 
precariousness  of  their  position.  Derby  attributed  the  state  of  affairs, 
which  he  owned  was  very  bad,  to  the  caprice  and  perverseness  of  the 
House  of  Commons,  which  he  said  was  manageable.  I  did  not,  as  I 
might  have  done,  tell  him  that  he  had  no  right  to  complain  of  this 
House,  and  that  it  was  the  mismanagement  of  his  own  colleagues  which 
was  the  cause  of  the  evil.  Lyndhurst  made  an  extraordinary  speech  on 
the  Jew  Bill  on  Tuesday  night." 


CHAPTER  XVII. 
THE  IONIAN  ISLANDS. 

It  was  in  1858  that  Gladstone  was  besought  by  Lord  Derby  to  visit 
the  Ionian  Isles  as  Lord  High  Commissioner  Extraordinary  from  Eng- 
land. Nothing  could  have  been  more  to  ;his  liking  as  a  student  of 
Greece  than  such  an  opportunity  as  was  this,  to  bathe  his  spirit  in  the 
very  atmosphere  of  Greek  freedom,  and  catch  some  of  the  echoes  of 
Greek  literature  under  the  sky  which  had  arched  itself  over  the  heads 
of  Homer  and  Sappho.  However  great  his  enthusiasm  over  his  pro- 
posed visit  was  from  a  literary  point  of  view,  the  interest  in  his  depart- 
ure lay  more  largely  in  the  fact  that  these  Islands,  which  had  been 
under  English  protection,  wished  to  unite  themselves  to  Greece.  Of 
course,  with  a  desire  of  that  kind  to  deal  with,  the  business  of  govern- 
ing them  on  the  part  of  England  had  become  very  complex  and 
arduous. 

If  England  had  expected  this  plastic  and  sympathetic  scholar  to  go 
forth  with  the  usual  panoply  of  John  Bull,  and  wrest  from  the  Islands 
their  wish  and  aspiration  toward  Greece,  England  had  sorely  miscal- 
culated and  provided  for  a  grievous  disappointment. 

Gladstone  went,  and  on  the  3d  of  December,  the  Senate  of  the 
Ionian  Islands  was  charmed  and  inspired  by  a  characteristic  address 
delivered  by  the  eloquent  Englishman  in  the  Italian  language.  It  is 
very  doubtful  if  ever  a  representative  of  a  strong  nation  stood  in  a 
more  happy  frame  of  mind  or  conducted  his  task  with  more  of  genuine 
humanity  and  comprehensive  wisdom,  than  did  Gladstone  on  this  oc- 
casion. He  was  invited  as  the  official  of  Great  Britain  to  meet  the  citi- 
zens of  the  Islands  at  levees,  and  from  platforms  erected  in  the  most  sig- 
nificant spots  he  spoke  with  extraordinary  foresight  and  impassioned 
eloquence.  Lord  Aberdeen,  who  was  usually  willing  to  estimate  prop- 
erly the  poetic  and  romantic  side  of  Gladstone's  nature,  looked  over 

TS8 


THE  IONIAN  ISLANDS.  159 

seas,  and  beheld  him  arranging  a  scheme  of  government  for  these 
Islands  which  John  Bull  laughed  at,  and  even  Aberdeen  called  fanciful. 
Gladstone,  as  Lord  High  Commissioner,  did  not  need  a  brilliant  genius 
to  discover  that  the  inhabitants  of  the  Islands  wished  to  be  connected 
with  Greece  by  the  closest  political  relationships;  indeed,  that  the/ 
desired  nothing  less  than  union.  They  sent  their  petitioner  to  Her 
Majesty  in  England,  and  Gladstone  came  back  to  London,  having  per- 
formed his  task  to  his  taste  and  to  his  honor. 

We  have  already  swiftly  sketched  the  movements  which  were  im- 
mediately related  to  these  events.  The  air  was  full  of  cries  for  reform, 
and  on  the  28th  of  February,  1859,  Disraeli  had  introduced  his  Reform 
Bill.  It  was  a  very  great  disappointment  for  those  who  were  expect- 
ing some  relief  from  the  intolerable  burdens  which  everywhere  were 
resting  heavily  upon  the  shoulders  of  the  common  people.  The  Re- 
form question  was  not  one  which  Disraeli  had  created,  and  there  can  be 
no  question  that  his  party  was  not  anxious  to  admit  reform.  But 
it  appeared  to  him  the  only  course  to  take,  and  he  ran  off  with  the 
reform  movement,  bag  and  baggage,  appropriating  it  for  his  own 
genius  and  his  party's  future.  He  had  stolen  the  admired  livery  of 
his  rivals.  John  Bright  was  never  more  serviceable  as  an  orator  sup- 
porting the  larger  conceptions  of  English  constitutional  government, 
than  he  became  in  his  speeches  delivered  before  vast  audiences,  or  in  his 
attacks  upon  the  Bill  in  the  House  of  Commons.  Disraeli's  cleverness 
at  political  chicanery  never  escaped  Gladstone's  eye  or  the  crushing 
power  of  his  strong  hand  when  it  was  necessary  for  him  to  administer 
a  bold  and  fatal  rebuke.  But  Bright  possessed  a  fund  of  humor  which 
Gladstone  never  had,  and  Bright  allowed  himself  to  deal  with  Disraeli's 
weaknesses  of  character  and  explosive  brilliancies,  in  the  spirit  of  a 
humorist.  Just  at  this  time  he  invented  the  phrase,  descriptive  of  the 
effect  of  Disraeli's  proposed  legislation — "fancy  franchises."  The 
House  of  Commons  and  the  whole  country  took  hold  of  the  phrase,  as 
they  had  taken  hold  of  other  phrases  he  had  spoken  with  reference 
to  Disraeli,  and,  indeed,  as  England  always  takes  hold  of  a  phrase  from 
a  bright  and  witty  man,  and  the  epithet  prevailed  everywhere.  Mr. 
Gladstone  spoke  with  an  astonishing  force  of  appeal,  reminding  Eng- 


i6o  GLADSTONE:  A   BIOGRAPHICAL   STUDY. 

land  how  many  great  men  had  begun  their  careers  by  means  of  help 
from  some  pocket  borough,  or,  having  already  been  thrown  overboard 
by  the  City,  they  had  not  appealed  in  vain  to  some  pocket  borough  to 
keep  them  in  Parliament  until  they  were  heard.  It  was  a  curious  pro- 
duction, even  from  Gladstone,  but  it  illuminated  the  point  of  view  from 
which  he  regarded  things.  The  old  bark  had  not  yet  quite  fallen  from 
the  growing  tree.  However,  he  was  to  be  defeated.  Thirty-nine  votes 
registered  themselves  against  the  side  upon  which  Gladstone  voted.  A 
dissolution  of  Parliament  was  advised  and  accomplished,  and  Oxford 
sent  Gladstone  back  to  the  first  session  of  the  new  Parliament  early  in 
June.  The  speech  from  the  Throne  had  hardly  been  read,  when  Lord 
Hartington  moved  a  vote  indicating  a  lack  of  confidence  in  the  min- 
isters, a'nd  again  Gladstone's  side  was  defeated,  for  he  voted  with  the 
Government,  and  it  was  overthrown  by  a  majority  of  thirteen.  Gran- 
ville,  whom  the  Queen  asked  to  form  a  Government,  failed,  and  Palmer- 
ston  again  was  placed  at  the  head,  with  Gladstone  in  charge  of  Finance 
and  Lord  John  Russell  in  charge  of  Foreign  Affairs.  Oxford  had  lost 
patience.  Her  pride  and  glory  had  evinced  a  startling  independence  of 
character.  Now  Oxford  rose  in  opposition  to  her  eminent  son,  and  one 
of  the  most  distinguished  of  the  professors  of  that  seat  of  learning  ad- 
dressed a  manifesto  to  the  voters  in  which  he  announced  that  Glad- 
stone's acceptance  of  office  "must  now  be  considered  as  giving  his 
definite  adhesion  to  the  Liberal  party." 


PALMERSTON 


QUEEN  VICTORIA 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 
GLADSTONE   AND   MACAULAY. 

The  year  1859  marks  a  date  in  the  history  of  English  historical 
writing,  from  the  fact  that  Henry  Hallam  and  Lord  Macaulay  had  died. 
We  have  already  found  Macaulay  dealing,  in  his  superior  wisdom  and 
riper  years,  with  the  man  who  was  sure,  in  the  course  of  time,  to  pro- 
duce one  of  the  best  and  most  carefully  reasoned  essays  upon  the  bril- 
liant historian  and  acute  essayist.  Macaulay  showed  how  trenchant  and 
resistless  he  could  become  while  toying  with  a  young  man  of  brilliant 
attainments  as  a  cat  might  play  with  a  fat  mouse,  in  the  essay  which 
he  wrote  upon  Gladstone's  book  on  Church  and  State.  Both  of  these 
men  were  students  of  the  Scriptures,  and  Thomas  Babbington  Mac- 
aulay had  received  from  Zachary  Macaulay  a  stream  of  Whiggery  as 
certainly  as  had  William  Ewart  Gladstone  received  from  Sir  John 
Gladstone  a  stream  of  Toryism,  by  the  fact  that  each  child  had  studied 
the  Scriptures  under  the  influence  of  his  father.  In  later  years  Glad- 
stone was  to  eclipse  Macaulay  in  his  studies  of  the  Greek  authors  and 
the  Christian  fathers.  Gladstone's  career  at  Oxford  was  as  brilliant  as 
Macaulay's  career  at  Cambridge.  Both  were  sons  of  men  easily  able  to 
help  their  children  to  any  profession.  Everybody  said  that  Macaulay 
was  to  be  a  lawyer,  and  he  turned  out  a  literary  man;  everybody  said 
Gladstone  was  to  be  a  churchman,  and  he  turned  out  a  statesman. 
These  same  differing  sets  of  people  were  very  much  alike  and  formed 
a  great  general  public  which  the  older  and  younger  men  addressed 
through  the  great  reviews  of  England.  Mr.  Gladstone's  ability  to  look 
upon  a  subject  without  prejudice  may  be  inferred  from  the  fact  that  he 
was,  at  the  time  of  his  life  when  he  was  most  easily  hurt,  severely 
handled  by  the  reviewer  of  his  dearly-loved  first  production.  The  best 
and  worst  of  Macaulay's  literary  methods, — his  straightforwardness  and 
his  utter  devotion  to  the  present  and  its  circle  of  judgment — appeared 

161 
11 


162  GLADSTONE:   A   BIOGRAPHICAL   STUDY. 

in  his  review  of  Gladstone.  It  gives  us  a  fine  faith  in  human  nature  and 
its  ability  to  rise  into  an  atmosphere  where  justice  may  be  done  both  to 
the  great  ideal  to  which  an  antagonist  was  untrue  and  to  his  own 
signal  abilities  and  attendant  virtues,  when  we  read  such  a  passage  as 
this  in  Gladstone's  essay  on  Macaulay: 

"One  of  the  very  first  things  that  must  strike  the  observer  of  this 
man  is,  that  he  was  very  unlike  to  any  other  man.  And  yet  this  unlike- 
ness,  this  monopoly  of  the  model  in  which  he  was  made,  did  not  spring 
from  violent  or  eccentric  features  of  originality,  for  eccentricity  he  had 
none  whatever,  but  from  the  peculiar  mode  in  which  the  ingredients 
were  put  together  to  make  up  the  composition.  In  one  sense,  beyond 
doubt,  such  powers  as  his  famous  memory,  his  rare  power  of  illustra- 
tion, his  command  of  language,  separated  him  broadly  from  others;  but 
gifts  like  these  do  not  make  the  man;  and  we  now  for  the  first  time 
know  that  he  possessed,  in  a  far  larger  sense,  the  stamp  of  a  real  and 
strong  individuality.  The  most  splendid  and  complete  assemblage  of 
intellectual  endowments  does  not  of  itself  suffice  to  create  an  interest  of 
the  kind  that  is,  and  will  be,  now  felt  in  Macaulay.  It  is  from  ethical 
gifts  alone  that  such  an  interest  can  spring.  These  existed  in  him  not 
only  in  abundance,  but  in  forms  distinct  from,  and  even  contrasted  with, 
the  fashion  of  his  intellectual  faculties,  and  in  conjunctions  which  come 
near  to  paradox.  Behind  the  mask  of  splendor  lay  a  singular  simplicity, 
behind  a  literary  severity  which  sometimes  approached  to  vengeance, 
an  extreme  tenderness;  behind  a  rigid  repudiation  of  the  sentimental, 
a  sensibility  at  all  times  quick,  and  in  the  latest  times  almost  threatening 
to  sap,  though  never  sapping,  his  manhood." 

One  of  the  elements  which  pervaded  Gladstone's  whole  personality 
is  that  Scotch  force  of  vision  which  looks  at  a  subject  so  long  as  to 
see  it  completely,  if  not  interiorly,  which  in  Macaulay  was  oftentimes 
splendidly  in  evidence.  The  Englishman  Gladstone  and  the  English- 
man Macaulay  at  last  came  nearly  understanding  one  another  through 
the  Scotchman  in  both  of  them.  Nothing  in  English  criticism  is  finer 
than  Gladstone's  treatment  of  Macaulay's  hobby-riding  and  the  influ- 
ence which  his  passion  for  a  chase  on  the  hobby  may  have  exercised 
upon  his  power  for  finding  truth. 


GLADSTONE   AND   MACAULAY.  163 

"Macaulay  was  not  only  accustomed,  like  many  more  of  us,  to  go 
out  hobby-riding,  but,  from  the  portentous  vigor  of  the  animal  he 
mounted,  was  liable,  more  than  most  of  us,  to  be  run  away  with.  His 
merit  is,  that  he  could  keep  his  seat  in  the  wildest  steeplechase;  but, 
as  the  object  in  view  is  arbitrarily  chosen,  so  it  is  reached  by  cutting  up 
the  fields,  spoiling  the  crops,  and  spoiling  or  breaking  down  the  fences 
needful  to  secure  for  labor  its  profit,  and  to  man  at  large  the  full  enjoy- 
ment of  the  fruits  of  the  earth.  Such  is  the  overpowering  glow  of  color, 
such  the  fascination  of  the  grouping  in  the  first  sketches  which  he  draws, 
that,  when  he  has  grown  hot  upon  his  work,  he  seems  to  lose  all  sense 
of  the  restraints  of  fact,  and  the  laws  of  moderation;  he  vents  the  strang- 
est paradoxes,  sets  up  the  most  violent  caricatures,  and  handles  the 
false  weight  and  measure  as  effectively  as  he  did  it  knowingly.  A  man 
so  able  and  so  upright  is  never  indeed  wholly  wrong.  He  never  for  a 
moment  consciously  pursues  anything  but  truth.  But  truth  depends, 
above  all,  on  proportion  and  relation.  The  greater  human  vividness 
with  which  Macaulay  sees  his  object,  absolutely  casts  a  shadow  upon 
what  lies  around;  he  loses  his  perspective;  and  imagination,  impelled 
headlong  by  the  strong  consciousness  of  honesty  in  purpose,  achieves 
the  work  of  fraud.  All  things  for  him  stand  in  violent  contrast  to  one 
another.  For  the  shadows,  the  gradations,  the  middle  and  transition 
touches,  which  make  up  the  bulk  of  human  life,  character,  and  action, 
he  has  neither  eye  nor  taste.  They  are  not  taken  account  of  in  his  prac- 
tice, and  they  at  length  die  away  from  the  ranges  of  his  vision." 

Still  further  did  Gladstone  appreciate  most  truly  Macaulay's  argu- 
mentative impulse,  for  the  historian  was  always  a  debater.  Gladstone 
was  a  thorough  student  of  Macaulay's  speeches  and  was  often  heard  to 
regret  that  British  eloquence  was  not  enriched  more  largely  by  a  career 
which  was  devoted  not  so  much  to  speaking  as  to  writing.  Macaulay's 
industry  has  been  more  than  matched  by  Gladstone's,  but  nothing  com- 
manded a  man  to  Gladstone  so  truly  as  plenty  of  industry  and  plenty 
of  good  intentions.  So,  and  only  so,  could  he  acquit  Macaulay  of  some 
unfairness  in  his  writings.  His  own  statement  is  as  follows: 

"He  may  not  have  possessed  that  scrupulously  tender  sense  of  obli- 
gation, that  nice  tact  of  exact  justice,  which  is  among  the  very  rarest, 


1 64  GLADSTONE:   A   BIOGRAPHICAL    STUDY. 

as  well  as  the  most  precious,  of  human  virtues.  But  there  never  was  a 
writer  less  capable  of  intentional  unfairness.  This  during  his  lifetime 
was  the  belief  of  his  friends,  but  was  hardly  admitted  by  opponents. 
His  biographer  has  really  lifted  the  question  out  of  the  range  of  con- 
troversy. He  wrote  for  truth;  but,  of  course,  for  truth  such  as  he  saw 
it;  and  his  sight  was  colored  from  within.  This  color,  once  attached, 
was  what  in  manufacture  is  called  a  mordant;  it  was  a  fast  color;  he 
could  not  distinguish  between  what  his  mind  had  received,  and  what 
his  mind  had  imparted.  Hence,  when  he  was  wrong,  he  could  not 
see  that  he  was  wrong;  and  of  those  calamities  which  are  due  to  the 
intellect  only,  and  not  the  heart,  there  can  hardly  be  a  greater.  The 
hope  of  amending  is,  after  all,  our  very  best  and  brightest  hope;  of 
amending  our  works  as  well  as  ourselves." 

So  much  attention  has  been  given  here  to  Gladstone's  essay  on 
Macaulay,  because  it  is  perhaps  the  very  best  of  his  efforts  to  appreciate 
a  man  who  once  urged  against  him  the  very  principles  to  which  Mr. 
Gladstone,  later  on  in  life,  became  more  friendly,  if  not  sincerely 
attached.  Gladstone's  gradual  change  from  a  proud  and  self-contained 
Toryism  to  a  broad,  teachable  and  progressive  Liberalism,  did  not 
occur  without  offering  serious  opportunities  for  a  mind  as  mobile  and 
responsive  as  his  own  to  acquire  certain  twists  and  wrenches  which 
leave  themselves  in  the  form  of  chronic  inability  to  perceive  the  half- 
truth  which  one  has  brought  out  of  a  former  association  and  to  unite 
it  to  the  half-truth  toward  which  one  journeys  in  the  course  of  the 
intellectual  change.  When  Mr.  Gladstone  first  read  Macaulay's  His- 
tory, he  must  have  felt  that  the  principles  of  the  Whigs  were  unduly 
idealized.  No  radiance  of  genius  could  keep  him  from  seeing  that 
there  was  a  truth  in  the  position  which  he  was  gradually  leaving,  to 
which  Macaulay  was  strangely,  if  not  wilfully,  blind.  Gladstone's  trans- 
formation from  a  Conservatism  gone  to  seed  to  a  Liberalism  full  of 
sap  and  promising  with  buds,  found  nothing  in  Macaulay's  persistent 
bias  and  ungrowing  measure  of  mind  to  generate  strong  praise.  But 
as  a  specimen  of  fair-mindedness  and  conscientious  fidelity  in  appre- 
ciation, rather  than  in  criticism,  this  passage  from  Gladstone's  essay 
must  be  regarded  as  characteristic: 


GLADSTONE   AND   MACAULAY.  165 

"The  contemporary  mind  may  in  rare  cases  be  taken  by  storm;  but 
posterity  never.  The  tribunal  of  the  present  is  accessible  to  influence;  that 
of  the  future  is  incorrupt.  The  coming  generations  will  not  give  Macaulay 
up:  but  they  will,  probably,  attach  much  less  value  than  we  have  done  to 
his  ipse  dixit.  They  will  hardly  accept  from  him  his  net  solutions  of  literary, 
and  still  less  of  historic  problems.  Yet  they  will  obtain  from  his  marked 
and  telling  points  of  view  great  aid  in  solving  them.  We  sometimes  fancy 
that  ere  long  there  will  be  editions  of  his  works  in  which  his  readers  may  be 
saved  from  pitfalls  by  brief,  respectful,  and  judicious  commentary,  and  that 
his  great  achievements  may  be  at  once  commemorated  and  corrected  by 
men  of  slower  pace,  of  drier  light,  and  of  more  tranquil,  broadset,  and  com- 
prehensive judgment.  For  his  works  are  in  many  respects  among  the 
prodigies  of  literature;  in  some,  they  have  never  been  surpassed.  As  lights 
that  have  shone  through  the  whole  universe  of  letters,  they  have  made  their 
title  to  a  place  in  the  solid  firmament  of  fame.  But  the  tree  is  greater  and 
better  than  its  fruit;  and  greater  and  better  yet  than  the  works  themselves 
are  the  lofty  aims  and  conceptions,  the  large  heart,  the  independent,  manful 
mind,  the  pure  and  noble  career,  which  in  this  biography  have  disclosed  to  us 
the  true  figure  of  the  man  who  wrote  them." 

The  political  friendship  of  Lord  John  Russell  and  Mr.  Gladstone 
at  this  point  was  very  deep  and  sympathetic,  and  they  agreed  one 
with  the  other  in  most  schemes  of  the  Government.  Not  for  a  moment 
did  Mr.  Gladstone  relax  his  energies  as  a  thinker  on  the  subject  of  edu- 
cation, and  in  the  early  part  of  1860,  he  prepared  an  address  which 
he  delivered,  April  i6th  of  the  same  year,  as  Lord  Rector  of  the  Univer- 
sity of  Edinburgh.  In  this  inaugural  he  said: 

"Subject  to  certain  cycles  of  partial  revolution,  it  is  true  that,  as  in 
the  material  so  in  the  moral  world,  every  generation  of  men  is  a  laborer 
for  that  which  is  to  succeed  it,  and  makes  an  addition  to  that  great  sum- 
total  of  achieved  results,  which  may,  in  commercial  phrase,  be  called 
the  capital  of  the  race.  Of  all  the  conditions  of  existence  in  which  man 
differs  from  the  brutes,  there  is  not  one  of  greater  moment  than  this, 
that  each  one  of  them  commences  life  as  if  he  were  the  first  of  a  species, 
whereas  man  inherits  largely  from  those  who  have  gone  before.  How 
largely,  none  of  us  can  say;  but  my  belief  is  that,  as  years  gather  more 
and  more  upon  you,  you  will  estimate  more  and  more  highly  your  debt 
to  preceding  ages.  If,  on  the  one  hand,  that  debt  is  capable  of  being 


166  GLADSTONE:   A  BIOGRAPHICAL    STUDY. 

exaggerated  or  misapprehended;  if  arguments  are  sometimes  strangely 
used  which  would  imply  that,  because  they  have  done  much,  we  ought 
to  do  nothing  more;  yet,  on  the  other  hand,  it  is  no  less  true  that  the 
obligation  is  one  so  vast  and  manifold,  that  it  can  never  as  a  whole  be 
adequately  measured.  It  is  not  only  in  possessions,  available  for  use, 
enjoyment,  and  security;  it  is  not  only  in  language,  laws,  institutions, 
arts,  religion;  it  is  not  only  in  what  we  have;  but  in  what  we  are.  For, 
as  character  is  formed  by  the  action  and  reaction  of  the  human  being 
and  the  circumstances  in  which  he  lives,  it  follows  that,  as  those  circum- 
stances vary,  he  alters  too;  and  he  transmits  a  modified — it  ought  to 
be  also  an  expanded  and  expanding — nature  onwards  in  his  turn  to 
his  posterity,  under  that  profound  law  which  establishes,  between  every 
generation  and  its  predecessors,  a  moral  as  well  as  a  physical  associa- 
tion. 

"In  what  degree  this  process  is  marred,  on  the  one  hand,  by  the 
perversity  and  by  the  infirmity  of  man,  or  restored  and  extended,  on  the 
other,  by  the  remedial  provisions  of  the  Divine  mercy,  this  is  not  the 
place  to  inquire.  The  progress  of  mankind  is,  upon  the  whole,  a 
checkered  and  an  intercepted  progress;  and  even  where  it  is  full  formed, 
still,  just  as  in  the  individual  youth  has  charms,  that  maturity  under  an 
inexorable  law  must  lose,  so  the  earlier  ages  of  the  world  will  ever 
continue  to  delight  and  instruct  us  by  beauties  that  are  exclusively  or 
peculiarly  their  own.  Again,  it  would  seem  as  though  this  progress 
(and  here  is  a  chastening  and  a  humbling  thought)  were  a  progress  of 
mankind,  and  not  of  the  individual  man;  for  it  seems  to  be  quite  clear 
that  whatever  be  the  comparative  greatness  of  the  race  now  and  in  its 
infant  or  early  stages,  what  may  be  called  the  normal  specimens,  so  far 
as  they  have  been  made  known  to  us  either  through  external  form  or 
through  the  works  of  the  intellect,  have  tended  rather  to  dwindle,  or  at 
least  to  diminish,  than  to  grow  in  the  highest  elements  of  greatness." 

He  concluded  as  follows: 

"And,  gentlemen,  if  you  let  yourselves  enjoy  the  praise  of  your 
teachers,  let  me  beseech  you  to  repay  their  care,  and  to  help  their  ardu- 
ous work,  by  entering  into  it  with  them,  and  by  showing  that  you  meet 
their  exertions  neither  with  a  churlish  mistrust,  nor  with  a  passive  in- 


GLADSTONE   AND   MACAULAY.  167 

difference,  but  with  free  and  ready  gratitude.  Rely  upon  it.  they 
require  your  sympathy;  and  they  require  it  more  in  proportion  as  they 
are  worthy  of  their  work.  The  faithful  and  able  teacher,  says  an  old 
adage,  is  'in  loco  parentis.'  His  charge  certainly  resembles  the  mother's 
care  in  this,  that,  if  he  be  devoted  to  his  task,  you  can  measure  neither 
the  cost  to  him  of  the  efforts  which  he  makes,  nor  the  debt  of  gratitude 
you  owe  him.  The  great  poet  of  Italy — the  profound  and  lofty  Dante 
— had  had  for  an  instructor  one  whom,  for  a  miserable  vice,  his  poem 
places  in  the  regions  of  the  damned;  and  yet  this  lord  of  song — this 
prophet  of  all  the  knowledge  of  his  time — this  master  of  every  gift  that 
can  adorn  the  human  mind — when  in  those  dreary  regions  he  sees  the 
known  image  of  his  tutor,  avows  in  language  of  a  magnificence  all  his 
own,  that  he  cannot,  even  now,  withhold  his  sympathy  and  sorrow  from 
his  unhappy  teacher,  for  he  recollects  how,  in  the  upper  world,  with 
a  father's  tender  care,  that  teacher  had  pointed  to  him  the  way  by  which 
man  becomes  immortal. 

"Gentlemen,  I  have  detained  you  long.  Perhaps  I  have  not  had 
time  to  be  brief;  certainly  I  could  have  wished  for  much  larger  oppor- 
tunities of  maturing  and  verifying  what  I  have  addressed  to  you  upon 
subjects  which  have  always  possessed  a  hold  on  my  heart,  and  have  long 
had  public  and  palpable  claims  on  my  attention.*  Such  as  I  have,  I  give. 
And  now,  finally,  in  bidding  you  farewell,  let  me  invoke  every  blessing 
upon  your  venerable  University  in  its  new  career;  upon  the  youth  by 
whom  its  halls  are  gladdened,  and  upon  the  distinguished  Head,  and 
able  teachers,  by  whom  its  places  of  authority  are  adorned." 


*  Many  years  after  this,  Gladstone  suggestively  added  this  footnote  to 
the  published  address: 

[As  Representative  for  the  University  of  Oxford,  1847-1865;  dum  fata 
DC  usque  sinebant. — W.  E.  G.,  1879.] 


CHAPTER  XIX. 
GLADSTONE'S  BUDGET  OF   1860. 

In  spite  of  the  increasingly  autocratic  manner  and  cynical  temper 
of  Lord  Palmerston,  Gladstone  remained  as  Chancellor  of  the  Ex- 
chequer, and  in  1860  he  proposed  a  Budget  which  must  always  remain 
distinguished  from  others  which  he  introduced,  by  the  fact  that  it 
recognized  the  achievements  of  Richard  Cobden.  Cobden  was  an  ad- 
mirable man  for  England  at  a  time  when  Bright's  eloquence  and  Glad- 
stone's enthusiasm  were  educating  Liberalism.  It  was  exceedingly 
fortunate  that,  while  he  was  a  Radical  of  the  Radicals,  he  could  meet 
such  a  man  as  the  Emperor  Napoleon  and  talk  with  him  good-humored- 
ly  and  yet  profoundly,  until  the  outcome  of  it  all  was  a  commercial 
treaty  between  France  and  England  by  which  a  complete  and  rational 
understanding  was  arrived  at  and  the  honor  of  both  nations  preserved. 

Gladstone's  Budget  in  1860  contained  another  thing  of  still  greater 
importance.  The  French  Government  had  now  entered  into  an  engage- 
ment looking  toward  free  trade  in  staples  raised  or  made  by  British 
hands.  Now  Gladstone  proposed,  in  the  interests  of  the  public  wanting 
intelligence,  that  the  duty  on  paper  should  be  abolished.  Nothing  that 
he  ever  undertook  was  more  to  his  taste  as  a  believer  in  the  value  of 
"light  and  leading"  for  the  people  of  a  constitutional  Government,  and 
nothing  aroused  a  more  pronounced  opposition.  The  tremendous 
amount  of  money  invested  in  the  newspaper  business  made  itself  felt 
everywhere  in  antagonism  to  Gladstone's  scheme.  Journals  which  had 
professed  to  exist  for  the  sa'ke  of  educating  the  public  hurled  caustic 
diatribes  against  the  proposer  of  this  measure  and  against  any  kind 
of  journalism  which  might  come  to  the  people  cheaply.  Gladstone  knew 
that  the  reading  public  was  behind  him,  and  he  saw  that  it  was  impossi- 
ble to  have  cheap  news  for  the  people  so  long  as  the  imposition  of  this 
duty  remained  possible.  His  speech  on  the  Budget  of  1860  takes  a 
large  place  in  every  journal  of  the  times. 

1 68 


GLADSTONE'S  BUDGET  OF   1860.  169 

In  this  speech,  he  spoke  as  follows  with  reference  to  France  and 
the  treaty: 

"I  do  not  forget,  sir,  that  there  was  once  a  time  when  close  rela- 
tions of  amity  were  established  between  the  Governments  of  England 
and  France.  It  was  in  the  reign  of  the  later  Stuarts;  it  marks  a  dark 
spot  in  our  annals;  but  the  spot  is  dark  because  the  union  was  an  union 
formed  in  a  spirit  of  domineering  ambition  on  the  one  side,  and  of  base 
and  most  corrupt  servility  on  the  other.  But  that,  sir,  was  not  a  union 
of  the  nations;  it  was  an  union  of  the  Governments.  This  is  not  to  be 
an  union  of  the  Governments  apart  from  the  countries;  it  is,  as  we  hope, 
to  be  an  union  of  the  nations  themselves;  and  I  confidently  say  again, 
as  I  have  already  ventured  to  say  in  this  House,  that  there  never  can 
be  any  union  between  the  nations  of  England  and  France,  except  an 
union  beneficial  to  the  world,  because  that  directly  one  or  the  other 
of  the  two  begins  to  harbor  schemes  of  selfish  aggrandizement,  that 
moment  the  jealousy  of  its  neighbor  will  be  aroused,  and  will  beget  a 
powerful  reaction;  and  the  very  fact  of  their  being  in  harmony  will  of 
itself  at  all  times  be  the  most  conclusive  proof  that  neither  of  them 
can  be  engaged  in  meditating  anything  which  is  dangerous  to  Europe." 

Every  such  collection  of  reminiscences  as  the  Greville  Memoirs 
indicates  how  greatly  Gladstone  had  surprised  England  with  the  result 
of  his  commission  as  Commissioner  to  the  Ionian  Islands:  The  Gre- 
ville Memoirs  perpetuate  also  the  memory  of  Gladstone's  speech: 

"Bath,  February  I5th:  When  I  left  London  a  fortnight  ago  the 
world  was  anxiously  expecting  Gladstone's  speech  in  which  he  was  to 
put  the  Commercial  Treaty  and  the  Budget  before  the  world.  His  own 
confidence  and  that  of  most  of  his  colleagues  in  his  success  was  unbound- 
ed, but  many  inveighed  bitterly  against  the  treaty,  and  looked  forward 
with  great  alarm  and  aversion  to  the  Budget.  Clarendon  shook  his 
head;  Overstone  pronounced  against  the  Treaty,  the  Times'  thun- 
dered against  it,  and  there  is  little  doubt  that  it  was  popular,  and  becom- 
ing more  so  every  day.  Then  came  Gladstone's  unlucky  illness,  which 
compelled  him  to  put  off  his  expose,  and  made  it  doubtful  whether  he 
would  not  be  physically  disabled  from  doing  justice  to  the  subject.  His 
doctor  says  he  ought  to  have  taken  two  months'  rest  instead  of  two 


GLADSTONE:   A  BIOGRAPHICAL   STUDY. 

days'.  However,  at  the  end  of  two  days'  delay  he  came  forth,  and 
tonscnsu  omnium  achieved  one  of  the  greatest  triumphs  that  the 
House  of  Commons  ever  witnessed.  Everybody  I  have  heard  from  ad- 
mits that  it  was  a  magnificent  display,  not  to  be  surpassed  in  ability  of 
execution,  and  that  he  carried  the  House  of  Commons  completely  with 
him.  I  can  well  believe  it,  for  when  I  read  the  report  of  it  the  next  day 
(a  report  I  take  to  have  given  the  speech  verbatim)  it  carried  me  along 
with  it  likewise.  For  the  moment  opposition  and  criticism  were 
silenced,  and  nothing  was  heard  but  the  second  praise  and  admiration. 
In  a  day  or  two,  however,  men  began  to  disengage  their  minds  from  the 
bewitching  influence  of  this  great  oratorical  power,  to  examine  calmly 
the  different  parts  of  the  wonderful  piece  of  machinery  which  Gladstone 
had  constructed,  and  to  detect  and  expose  the  weak  points  and  objec- 
tionable provisions  which  it  contained.  I  say  it,  for,  as  the  Speaker 
writes  me,  it  must  be  taken  as  a  whole  or  rejected  as  a  whole,  and  he  adds 
the  first  will  be  its  fate. 

"Clarendon,  who  has  all  along  disapproved  of  the  Treaty,  wrote  to 
me  that  Gladstone's  success  was  complete,  and  public  opinion  in  his 
favor.  He  says,  'I  expect  that  the  London  feeling  will  be  reflected 
from  the  country,  so  that  there  will  be  no  danger  of  rejection,  though  I 
think  that  the  more  the  whole  thing  is  considered,  the  less  popular  it 
will  become.  The  no-provision  for  the  enormous  deficit  that  will  exist 
next  year  will  strike  people  as  well  as  the  fact  that  the  Budget  is  made 
up  of  expeditions  for  the  present  year.  The  non-payment  of  the  Ex- 
chequer bonds  is  to  all  intents  and  purposes  a  loan;  the  war  tax  on  tea 
and  sugar,  the  windfall  of  the  Spanish  payment,  the  making  the  malt- 
sters and  hopgrowers  pay  in  advance,  etc.,  are  all  stopgaps.  If  anybody 
purposes  it,  I  shall  not  be  surprised  if  an  additional  id  Income  Tax  in 
place  of  the  war  duties  was  accepted  by  Gladstone.  He  has  a  fervent 
imagination,  which  furnishes  facts  and  arguments  in  support  of  them; 
he  is  an  audacious  innovator,  because  he  has  an  insatiable  desire  for 
popularity,  in  his  notions  of  government  he  is  a  far  more  sincere  Repub- 
lican than  Bright,  for  his  ungratified  personal  vanity  makes  him  wish  to 
subvert  the  institutions  and  the  classes  that  stand  in  the  way  of  his 
ambition.  The  two  are  converging  from  different  points  to  the  same 


GLADSTONE'S  BUDGET  OF   1860.  171 

end,  and  if  Gladstone  remains  in  office  long  enough  and  is  not  more 
opposed  by  his  colleagues  than  he  has  been  hitherto,  we  shall  see  him 
propose  a  graduate  Income  Tax.'  These  are  the  only  objections  to 
the  Budget,  and  speculations  (curious  ones)  as  to  the  character  and 
purity  of  Gladstone. 

"In  another  note  he  says:  'Gladstone  made  a  fair  defense  of  the 
Treaty,  though  there  are  things  in  it  which  deserve  the  severest  criticism 
and  will  get  it,  such  as  tying  ourselves  down  about  the  exportation  of 
coal  (which  is  a  munition  of  war),  letting  in  French  silks  free,  while  ours 
are  to  pay  thirty  per  cent,  and  establishing  a  differential  duty  of  nearly 
fifty  per  cent  in  favor  of  light  French  wines  against  the  stronger  wines 
of  Spain  and  Portugal,  for  that  would  be  the  operation  of  the  Treaty.' 
Since  all  this  was  written  there  has  been  a  meeting  of  the  Conservative 
party,  and  I  hear  this  morning  that  Derby  has  decided  to  take  the  field 
with  all  his  forces,  with  a  resolution  against  the  condition  about  the 
exportation  of  coal,  and  confining  himself  to  that,  which  will  very  likely 
be  carried.  On  the  other  hand,  the  publicans  and  licensed  victualers 
appear  to  be  in  arms  against  that  part  of  the  Budget  which  more  im- 
mediately interests  them,  and  are  waging  a  fierce  war  in  the  press  by 
their  paper,  the  'Morning  Advertiser,'  so  that  in  spite  of  his  great  tri- 
umph and  all  the  admiration  of  his  eloquence  and  skill  elicited,  it  is  not 
all  sunshine  and  plain  sailing  with  his  measure.  Delane  writes  to  me 
that  Gladstone  will  find  it  hard  work  to  get  his  Budget  through,  that 
Peel  when  he  brought  forward  his  Budget  had  a  majority  of  ninety,  all 
of  which  he  required  to  do  it,  whereas  Palmerston  cannot  command  a 
majority  of  nine." 

Whatever  the  result,  Gladstone's  eloquence  had  achieved  a  new 
triumph.  No  richness  of  language  or  accuracy  of  scholarship,  no 
breadth  of  thought  or  comprehensiveness  of  information,  no  fullest  pas- 
sion for  facts  or  industry  in  research,  but  that  seemed  to  yield  its  trib- 
ute and  its  results  to  the  orator,  as  he  proceeded  with  his  explanation, 
and  met  the  excited  anticipations  of  the  country  with  a  speech  of  the 
deepest  historical  value  and  of  profound  fiscal  philosophy. 

Mr.  Gladstone  was  above  all  else,  an  industrious  man.  His  almost 
royal  imagination  gave  him  sovereignty  over  every  theme,  but  it  would 


GLADSTONE:   A  BIOGRAPHICAL    STUDY. 

furnish  only  a  sign  of  most  pitiful  weakness  if  it  had  not  been  true  that 
his  zeal  and  laboriousness  were  driven  by  some  fortune  of  nature  to  the 
doing  of  those  duties  which  oftentimes  escape  the  attention  of  imagin- 
ative minds. 

Here  stood  the  man,  who,  in  the  course  of  those  very  days,  was  din- 
ing and  conversing  with  men  who  were  fascinated  by  his  discourse  upon 
Homer,  or  stimulated  and  educated  by  his  utterances  on  theological 
subjects;  and  now,  for  hours  in  the  Parliament  of  England,  he  was 
devoting  the  same  gifts  of  thought,  prophetic  fancy  and  solid  scholar- 
ship, to  flax,  hair,  bark,  stoneware,  covenants,  duties  on  wine,  wool  and 
annuities;  and  in  all  his  long  address,  the  marvelous  collocation  of 
powers  shone  forth  and  illuminated  the  subject  itself  and  the  minds 
of  those  who  were  trying  to  understand  the  finances  of  England.  He 
concluded  as  follows: 

"Our  proposals  involve  a  great  reform  in  our  tariff;  they  involve  a 
large  remission  of  taxation,  and  last  of  all,  though  not  least,  they  in- 
clude that  commercial  treaty  with  France  which,  though  we  have  to 
apprehend  that  objections  in  some  quarters  will  be  taken  to  it,  we  con- 
fidently recommend,  not  only  on  moral,  and  social,  and  political,  but 
also,  and  with  equal  confidence,  on  economical  and  fiscal  grounds. 
.  .  .  There  were  times,  now  long  by,  when  Sovereigns  made  prog- 
ress through  the  land,  and  when,  at  the  proclamation  of  their  heralds, 
they  caused  to  be  scattered  whole  showers  of  coin  among  the  people 
who  thronged  upon  their  steps.  That  may  have  been  a  goodly  spec- 
tacle; but  it  is  also  a  goodly  spectacle,  and  one  adapted  to  the  altered 
spirit  and  circumstances  of  our  times  when  our  Sovereign  is  enabled, 
through  the  wisdom  of  her  great  Council,  assembled  in  Parliament 
around  her,  again  to  scatter  blessings  among  her  subjects  by  means  of 
wise  and  prudent  laws;  of  which  laws  do  not  sap  in  any  respects  the 
foundations  of  duty  or  of  manhood,  but  which  strike  away  the  shackles 
from  the  arm  of  industry,  which  give  new  incentives  and  new  rewards  to 
toil,  and  which  win  more  and  more  for  the  Throne  and  for  the  institu- 
tions of  the  country  the  gratitude,  the  confidence  and  the  love  of  an 
united  people.  Let  me  say,  even  to  those  who  are  anxious,  and  justly 
anxious,  on  the  subject  of  our  national  defenses,  that  that  which  stirs  the 


GLADSTONE'S  BUDGET  OF   1860.  173 

flame  of  patriotism  in  men,  that  which  binds  them  in  one  heart  and 
soul,  that  which  gives  them  increased  confidence  in  their  rulers,  that 
which  makes  them  feel  and  know  that  they  are  treated  with  justice,  and 
that  we  who  represent  them  are  laboring  incessantly  and  earnestly  for 
their  good — is  in  itself  no  small,  no  feeble,  and  no  transitory  part  of  na- 
tional defense.  We  recommend  these  proposals  to  your  impartial  and 
searching  inquiry.  We  do  not  presume,  indeed,  to  make  a  claim  on 
your  acknowledgments;  but  neither  do  we  desire  to  draw  on  your  un- 
requited confidence,  nor  to  lodge  an  appeal  to  your  compassion.  We 
ask  for  nothing  more  than  your  dispassionate  judgment,  and  for  noth- 
ing less;  we  know  that  our  plan  will  receive  that  justice  at  your  hands; 
and  we  confidently  anticipate  on  its  behalf  the  approval  alike  of  the 
Parliament  and  the  Nation." 

Under  date  of  February  26th,  Greville  makes  the  following  entry 
with  regard  to  Gladstone: 

"February  26th:  On  Friday  night  Gladstone  had  another  great 
triumph.  He  made  a  splendid  speech,  and  obtained  a  majority  of  116, 
which  put  an  end  to  the  contest.  He  is  now  the  great  man  of  to-day, 
but  these  recent  proceedings  have  strikingly  displayed  the  disorganized 
condition  of  the  Conservative  party  and  their  undisguised  dislike  of 
their  leader.  A  great  many  of  them  voted  with  Government  on  Friday 
night,  and  more  expressed  satisfaction  at  the  result  being  a  defeat  of 
Disraeli.  The  Treaty  and  the  Budget,  though  many  parts  of  both  are 
obnoxious  to  criticism,  more  or  less  well  founded,  seem  on  the  whole  not 
unpopular,  and  since  their  first  introduction  to  have  undoubtedly  gained 
in  public  favor.  This  fact  and  the  state  opposition  prove  the  impos- 
sibility of  any  change  of  Government.  Gladstone,  too,  as  he  is  strong, 
seems  disposed  to  be  merciful,  and  has  expressed  his  intention  of  taking 
fairly  into  consideration  the  various  objections  that  may  be  brought 
forward,  and  to  consent  to  reasonable  alterations  when  good  cases  are 
made  out  for  them.  There  seems  no  doubt  that  his  great  measures  were 
not  approved  by  the  majority  of  the  Cabinet,  but  the  malcontents  do  not 
seem  to  have  been  disposed  to  fight  much  of  the  battle  against  the 
minority,  which  included  both  Palmerston  and  Lord  John." 

It  was  not  to  be  wondered  at  that  the  proprietors  of  newspapers 


I74  GLADSTONE:  A    BIOGRAPHICAL   STUDY. 

and  the  manufacturers  of  paper  should  still  resolve  to  continue  their 
opposition,  and  that,  also,  Gladstone's  popularity  should  suffer  amongst 
the  favored  population  they  represented.  His  majorities  were  sure  to 
be  lessening.  Fifty-three  votes  carried  the  second  reading;  only  nine 
were  given  for  the  third.  The  House  of  Lords,  of  course,  were  de- 
lighted, and  the  aged  Lord  Lyndhurst  tottered  to  his  place  and  joined 
with  Lord  Derby  in  beseeching  the  House  of  Lords  to  crush  this  in- 
strument of  legislation  which  had  been  introduced  in  the  interests  of 
popular  intelligence. 

Mr.  Gladstone  was  making  promises  that  all  means  should  be  tried 
and  no  power  left  unexhausted  of  its  energies  to  preserve  the  friend- 
ship between  England  and  France,  and  he  went  further  than  ever  before 
in  saying  that  he  was  desirous  of  reducing  the  military  and  naval 
armament  of  England  when  other  nations  would  give  the  slightest 
testimony  of  their  wish  for  peace.  Disraeli  had  said  that  no  govern- 
ment could  raise  seventy  millions  pounds  a  year  constantly  by  taxation 
when  the  nation  was  enjoying  peace.  Cobden's  treaty  with  France, 
which  Gladstone  did  much  to  praise,  had  placed  England  upon  a  firmer 
foundation  with  reference  to  all  future  pacific  measures.  The  House 
of  Lords  was  still  fighting  the  repeal  of  the  Paper  Tax  which  the  House 
of  Commons  had  authorized.  Lord  Palmerston  was  not  content  with 
the  power  which  the  House  of  Lords  had  wielded  in  this  matter,  and 
he  moved  a  Committee  to  ascertain  and  report  on  the  attitude  of  each 
House  toward  such  questions,  hoping  that  some  arrangement  might 
be  made  whereby  the  House  of  Lords  could  interfere  with  the  results 
of  agitation  and  the  reform  spirit  which  grievously  irritated  these 
excellent  persons. 

John  Bright's  attack  upon  the  House  of  Lords  as  a  body  willing 
to  exceed  the  provisions  of  the  English  Constitution,  unable,  however, 
to  reimpose  a  tax  which  had  been  repealed  by  the  House  of  Commons, 
was  said  to  have  been  seconded  by  Gladstone  himself.  But  many 
who  were  posing  as  the  amiable  friends  of  a  man  perfectly  able  to  take 
care  of  himself,  explained  that  Gladstone  had  done  it  only  to  please 
Bright  and  the  Radicals. 

The  hour  now  came  for  monster  meetings  everywhere,  and  the 


GLADSTONE'S  BUDGET  OF   1860.  175 

nation  uttered  a  protest  against  the  House  of  Lords.  Palmerston 
was  obdurate  and  desired  evidently  to  stifle  the  rising  spirit  of  the 
people.  Placards  all  over  London  announced  the  aggression  of  the 
House  of  Lords  in  bold  letters,  and  with  much  display  of  brilliant  ink. 
From  thousands  of  throats  came  the  uttered  cry  that  the  House  of 
Lords  must  be  abolished.  Gladstone  was  being  educated  for  events 
twenty  years  away.  The  Lords  had  thrown  out  the  Paper  Duty  Bill 
and  had  aroused  the  country  against  themselves.  Gladstone  made 
a  speech  in  which  he  scored  Lord  Palmerston  with  merciless  invective, 
and  even  Lord  Russell  called  it  "magnificently  mad."  England  was  in 
a  tumult,  and  opinion  swayed  back  and  forth,  as  it  had  in  May,  when 
Greville  placed  the  following  item  in  his  journal,  with  reference  to. the 
reaction  against  Gladstone: 

"May  1 2th:  Not  more  than  three  months  ago  Gladstone  was 
triumphant  and  jubilant;  he  had  taken  the  House  of  Commons  and 
the  country  captive  by  his  eloquence,  and  nothing  was  heard  every- 
where but  songs  of  praise  and  admiration  at  his  marvelous  success 
and  prodigious  genius.  There  never  was  a  greater  reaction  in  a 
shorter  time.  Everybody's  voice  is  now  against  him,  and  his  famous 
Treaty  and  his  Budget  are  pronounced  enormous  and  dangerous 
blunders.  Those  who  were  most  captivated  now  seem  to  be  most 
vexed  and  ashamed  of  their  former  fascination.  They  are  provoked 
with  themselves  for  having  been  so  duped,  and  a  feeling  of  resent- 
ment and  bitterness  against  him  has  become  widely  diffused  in  and 
out  of  the  House  of  Commons,  on  his  own  side  as  well  as  on  the 
other.  It  was  the  operation  of  this  feeling  which  caused  the  narrow 
majority  on  the  Paper  Duties  the  other  night,  when  it  seems  as  if 
a  little  more  management  and  activity  might  have  put  him  in  a  minor- 
ity, and  it  is  the  same  thing  which  is  now  encouraging  the  House 
of  Lords,  urged  on  by  Derby,  to  throw  out  the  resolution 
when  it  comes  before  them.  Derby  has  announced  that  he  shall  exert 
himself  to  the  utmost  to  procure  the  rejection  of  the  Bill  in  the  House 
of  Lords,  and  if  he  perseveres  he  will  probably  obtain  a  very  unwise 
and  perilous  success,  which  he  will  before  long  have  to  regret." 

It  was  of  little  account  now  that  Gladstone  denounced  the  action 


176  GLADSTONE:   A    BIOGRAPHICAL    STUDY. 

of  the  House  of  Lords  as  "a  gigantic  innovation,"  or  that  Lord 
Palmerston  did  not  himself  like  it.  Things  were  in  transition,  and 
it  looked  as  though  Gladstone,  in  his  journey  from  pole  to  pole  in  poli- 
tics, was  going  so  swiftly  that,  as  one  of  his  old  friends  said:  "He 
could  not  take  time  to  stop  at  the  station  called  Whig  Politics  in  his 
flight  from  Conservatism  to  Liberalism."  Certain  it  is  that  the  Radi- 
cals were  most  proud  of  his  utterance,  though  he  had  a  faith. that  the 
House  of  Lords  might  recover  its  reason,  which  Radicals  did  not  have. 
Palmerston  was  angered  by  Gladstone,  and  Radicalism  read  and  reread 
the  words  the  latter  spoke  with  reference  to  Cobden. 

Meanwhile  Disraeli  was  shrewd  enough  to  see  that  though,  in 
the  year  1860,  Gladstone  had  succeeded  in  carrying  his  Resolution 
for  removing  as  much  of  the  Customs  Duty  on  imported  paper  as 
exceeded  the  Excise  Duty  on  paper  manufactured  in  England,  and 
though  the  Government  had  abandoned  their  Reform  Bill  and  brought 
in  another  on  the  first  of  March,  his  condemnation  could  not  wisely 
shut  out  the  possibility  of  his  introducing  a  Reform  Bill  at  a  later 
date,  which  would  dazzle,  if  not  please,  the  Radicals,  more  truly  than 
any  which  Gladstone's  genius  had  supported.  Bright  and  Cobden 
were  ever  faithful  to  Lord  John  Russell's  scheme  of  Reform.  Disraeli 
talked  about  it  as  "a  measure  of  a  mediaeval  character  without  the 
inspiration  of  a  feudal  system  or  the  genius  of  the  middle  ages,"  and 
Lord  Palmerston  did  not  care  what  become  of  it.  It  was  not  long 
before  Palmerston's  supporters  concluded  that  he  would  like  to  see 
it  defeated.  Gladstone's  old  friend  at  Christchurch,  Oxford,  George 
Cornewall  Lewis,  made  a  speech  for  the  Bill  which  brought  out  all  the 
characteristics  of  a  nature  strongly  influential  and  strangely  different 
from  the  nature  of  Gladstone.  The  novelist,  Bulwer-Lytton,  spoke 
of  Lewis'  speech  as  one  which  proved  that  he  had  "come  to  bury 
Caesar,  not  to  praise  him."  The  session  was  rapidly  drifting  into  a 
debating  school  in  which  the  chief  result  was  the  consumption  of  time. 
At  last  the  whole  affair  became  ludicrous  and  Lord  John  Russell 
announced  the  withdrawal  of  the  Bill  on  June  nth. 


WM.  E    GLADSTONE— ENGLISH  STATESMAN 


w 


U 

& 

o 

en 

Q 

I 


CHAPTER  XX. 
THE  BUDGET  OF  1861. 

The  Session  of  1861  opened  on  the  5th  of  February,  and  all  London 
crowded  to  Buckingham  Palace  to  cheer  the  Queen  on  her  way  to  the 
Houses  of  Parliament.  Great  questions  were  to  come  up,  and  they 
came  close  to  Mr.  Gladstone's  heart.  The  existence  of  a  national 
church  was  connected  with  the  question  of  church  rates,  and  in 
defense  of  the  latter,  Mr.  Gladstone  spoke  so  powerfully  that  the 
Opposition  cheered  loudly.  In  this  he  found  himself  opposed  to  his 
colleague,  Lord  John  Russell. 

April  15,  the  Chancellor  of  the  Exchequer  offered  his  annual  finan- 
cial statement.  He  had  a  surplus  of  nearly  2,000,000  pounds  for  their 
rejoicing.  His  propositions  came,  one  after  the  other,  in  precise  and 
eloquent  language,  but  the  public  was  not  willing  for  another  Bill  to 
be  sent  up  for  the  repeal  of  the  paper  duties,  if  that  Bill  was  to  be 
rejected  in  the  House  of  Lords.  Gladstone,  throughout  his  dealing 
with  the  subject,  seemed  to  feel  behind  him  the  majority  of  the  English 
people.  These  are  some  of  his  utterances: 

We  have  seen  this  country  during  the  last  few  years  without  European 
war,  but  under  a  burden  of  taxation,  such  as,  out  of  a  European  war,  it  was 
never  called  upon  to  bear;  we  have  also  seen  it  last  year  under  the  pressure 
of  a  season  of  blight,  such  as  hardly  any  living  man  can  recollect;  yet,  on 
looking  abroad  over  the  face  of  England,  no  one  is  sensible  of  any  signs  of 
decay,  least  of  all  can  such  an  apprehension  be  felt  with  regard  to  those  at- 
tributes which  are  perhaps  the  highest  of  all,  and  on  which  most  of  all 
depends  our  national  existence — the  spirit  and  courage  of  the  country.  It  is 
needless  to  say  that  neither  the  sovereign  on  the  throne,  nor  the  nobles  and 
the  gentry  that  fill  the  place  of  the  gallant  chieftains  of  the  Middle  Ages, 
nor  the  citizens  who  represent  the  invincible  soldiery  of  Cromwell,  nor  the 
peasantry  who  are  the  children  of  those  sturdy  archers  that  drew  the  cross- 
bows of  England  in  the  fields  of  France — none  of  these  betray  either  inclina- 
12  177 


178  GLADSTONE:   A    BIOGRAPHICAL    STUDY. 

tion  or  tendency  to  depart  from  the  tradition  of  their  forefathers.  If  there 
be  any  danger  which  has  recently  in  an  especial  manner  beset  us,  I  confess 
that,  though  it  may  be  owing  to  some  peculiarity  in  my  position,  or  some 
weakness  in  my  vision,  it  has  seemed  to  me  to  be,  during  recent  years 
chiefly,  in  our  proneness  to  constant,  and  apparently  almost  boundless,  aug- 
mentations of  expenditure,  and  in  the  consequences  that  are  associated  with 
them.  *  *  *  Sir,  I  do  trust  that  the  day  has  come  when  a  check  has 
begun  to  be  put  to  the  movement  in  this  direction ;  and  I  think,  as  far  as  I 
have  been  able  to  trace  the  sentiments  of  the  House,  and  the  indica- 
tions of  general  opinion  during  the  present  session,  that  the  tendency  to 
which  I  have  adverted  is  at  least  partially  on  the  decline.  I  trust  it  will  alto- 
gether subside  and  disappear.  The  spirit  of  the  people  is  excellent.  There 
never  was  a  nation  in  the  whole  history  of  the  world  more  willing  to  bear 
the  heavy  burdens  under  which  it  lies — more  generously  disposed  to  over- 
look the  errors  of  those  who  have  the  direction  of  its  affairs.  For  my 
own  part,  I  hold  that,  if  this  country  can  steadily  and  constantly  remain 
as  wise  in  the  use  of  her  treasure  as  she  is  unrivaled  in  its  production,  and 
as  moderate  in  the  exercise  of  her  strength  as  she  is  rich  in  its  possession, 
that  we  may  well  cherish  the  hope  that  there  is  yet  reserved  for  England  a 
great  work  to  do  on  her  own  part  and  on  the  part  of  others,  and  that  for 
many  a  generation  yet  to  come  she  will  continue  to  hold  a  foremost  place 
among  the  nations  of  the  world. 

He  had  met  a  scene  the  like  of  which  he  had  not  hitherto  beheld, 
even  in  the  hours  of  his  supreme  mastery  of  public  opinion  in  England. 
For  long  hours  before  the  moment  arrived  for  Gladstone's  appearance, 
St.  Stephen's  had  been  besieged  by  a  crowd,  the  hall  was  thronged  by 
persons  who  had  tickets  and  by  those  who  had  none,  and  thousands 
had  gone  without  the  mid-day  meal  with  the  hope  that  somehow  there 
might  be  room  for  them  within  the  sound  of  the  Chancellor's  voice. 
He  had  spoken  and  triumphed. 

Perhaps  the  presentation  of  this  Budget  furnishes  the  student  of 
oratory  with  the  best  specimen  of  Gladstone's  eloquence  in  the  direction 
of  lucidity  of  statement  in  explanation  of  financial  problems. 

After  a  severe  struggle,  he  accomplished  what  was  a  virtual  defeat 
of  the  aristocracy.  Mr.  Gladstone  was  attacked  most  violently  by  Lord 
Robert  Cecil,  and  his  plans  were  nearly  defeated  while  Daly,  the  priest, 
was  attempting  to  force  Irish  Liberal  members  into  their  support  of 


THE  BUDGET  OF  1861.  179 

the  Conservative  party.     The  peers  were  defeated,  and  Mr.  Disraeli 
was  with  them. 

Gladstone  was  the  first  man,  after  the  decease  of  the  younger  Pitt, 
who  gave  England  the  consciousness  that  she  possessed  the  greatest 
Finance  Minister  in  the  world,  and  John  Bull,  shopkeeper  and  banker, 
exchanger  and  fiscal  actuary  for  the  most  of  this  planet  of  ours,  has 
not  failed  to  appreciate  these  men  whose  lives  present  many  points 
by  \vhich  they  may  be  compared  or  contrasted.  Each  of  them  was 
born  amidst  circumstances  almost  determining  the  political  character 
of  his  career,  Lord  Chatham  being  scarcely  more  eager  and  confident 
that  the  son  whose  education  in  affairs,  patriotism  and  eloquence  he 
himself  had  directed,  should  rise  to  prominence  as  a  statesman,  than 
Sir  John  Gladstone  was  ambitfous  and  hopeful  that  his  son  should 
prove  an  effective,  if  not  unequaled  champion  of  the  Toryism  which 
was  as  dear  to  him  as  his  religious  faith.  Both  these  young  men  were 
prodigies  in  mental  power  and  equipment,  though  in  precocity  Pitt 
outstripped  Gladstone,  having  been  made  Chancellor  of  the  Exchequer 
at  twenty-three,  whereas  Gladstone  did  not  reach  that  position  until  he 
was  above  forty.  It  must  be  said  in  favor  of  the  latter,  that  he  had  no 
George  III.,  whom  he  was  speedily  to  teach  by  eloquent  opposition, 
whom  another  Pitt  could  amaze  by  refusing  office  unless  he  should 
have  a  Cabinet  seat  under  some  Rockingham,  nor  had  Pitt  found,  as 
did  Gladstone,  a  master  hand  upon  affairs,  such  as  Sir  Robert  Peel, 
able  to  conduct  a  government  with  astuteness  and  power.  Pitt  came 
upon  English  politics  after  a  revolution  in  France  which  had  made 
English  politicians  look  with  something  of  prayerful  concern  for  bright 
and  patriotic  young  men,  and  he  had  entered  his  public  career  when 
another  revolution,  brought  about  by  America,  left  a  huge  debt  for 
England  to  pay  which  would  have  staggered  anything  but  that  kind  of 
"youth,"  which,  Disraeli  says,  "is  genius."  Gladstone,  on  the  con- 
trary, found  these  matters  as  quiet  and  settled  as  if  they  had  belonged 
to  the  policies  of  Rome  under  Augustus,  a  consummate  politician 
and  adroit  leader  of  men  was  at  the  helm,  and  before  England  stretched 
the  golden  days  consequent  upon  the  triumph  of  the  Reform  Bill. 
It  is  interesting  to  note,  however,  that  Pitt's  opposition  to  the  Toryism 


iSo  GLADSTONE:   A    BIOGRAPHICAL    STUDY. 

•of  the  Crown  and  the  Ministers,  in  fact,  Pitt's  Whiggery,  was  pro- 
phetic of  Gladstone's  Liberalism. 

The  former  literally  compelled  Toryism  to  confess  his  general 
usefulness,  after  he  had  antagonized  the  King's  insatiable  desire  for  war, 
battled  for  retrenchment  in  public  expenditure,  championed  Par- 
liamentary Reform,  struggled  against  the  corrupt  forces  at  the  Court 
and  urged  the  abbreviation  of  Parliamentary  sessions.  Never,  as  many 
historians  remark,  did  Reform  come  so  near  to  victory,  before  Glad- 
stone's day,  as  it  did  on  one  of  Pitt's  motions. 

Both  of  these  men  entered  Parliamentary  life  as  remarkable  speak- 
ers. Classical  training  and  close  study  of  mathematics,  enormous  his- 
torical reading  and  rare  familiarity  with  the  poetry  of  ancient  and 
modern  times  were,  despite  Pitt's  ill  health,  allied  in  each  with  supple 
and  impressive  physical  presence,  excellent  if  not  remarkable  voice  and 
graceful  manner,  fervent  imagination  and  taste  for  argumentation,  to 
furnish  an  orator  of  the  highest  type.  Gladstone,  however,  possessed 
a  wealth  of  fancy  and  impulsive  audacity  in  contention,  characteristic 
of  Chatham  rather  than  of  his  calmer  and  more  resourceful  son.  Each 
of  these  young  debaters  soon  made  St.  Stephen's  echo  rotund  and 
stately  sentences,  and  both  Pitt  and  Gladstone  had  not  to  speak  often 
in  the  House  of  Commons  until  the  imperial  manner  of  their  address, 
the  towering  sarcasm  of  the  one  or  the  general  loftiness  of  the  other, 
brought  the  charge  of  intolerable  arrogance  and  haughty  conceit.  If 
Pitt  was  cold  and  used  a  keener  blade  with  dauntless  equanimity,  Glad- 
stone was  to  be  radiant  and  impassioned,  even  so  hot,  that  his  sword, 
once  bathed  in  fiery  zeal,  illumined  while  it  burned  in  the  air  of  dis- 
cussion. If  each  had  come  panoplied  with  culture  and  masterful  of 
accomplishment  in  matters  of  Church  and  State,  Pitt  was  more  often 
to  treat  the  Church  as  a  statesman,  Gladstone  was  to  deal  with  the 
State  more  frequently  as  a  churchman.  Indeed,  Gladstone  never  got 
out  of  the  mood  which  early  beset  him  and  made  him  desire  to  enter 
holy  orders.  He  often  preached  as  well  in  the  House  of  Commons,  as 
once  he  did,  at  King's  College  for  his  Episcopal  friend.  The  home  of 
Pitt  and  the  home  of  Gladstone  were  gymnasia  for  the  development 
of  every  noble  characteristic  of  their  eloquence  and  every  generous 


THE  BUDGET  OF  1861.  181 

impulse  of  their  souls.  Music  and  illustrious  friendships,  the  admira- 
tion of  art  and  the  love  of  high  aims,  had  given  to  their  youth  the 
domain  best  calculated  to  foster  the  most  exquisite  taste  and  reverence 
for  the  good  and  true. 

Pitt  studied  finance  with  Adam  Smith  as  the  apostle  of  a  better 
political  economy;  Gladstone  learned  to  formulate  a  Budget  at  the 
feet  of  that  successful  business-man,  his  father,  Sir  John  Gladstone. 
The  one  could  never  see  why  Adam  Smith's  theories  would  not  pay 
England's  debt  or  secure  England's  financial  ascendancy;  the  other 
could  never  comprehend  why  the  principles  which  had  made  Sir  John 
Gladstone's  business  career  successful,  should  not,  if  applied  to  the 
commercial  undertakings  and  problems  of  the  English  nation,  produce 
sufficient  revenues  and  enrich  the  realm.  At  first,  it  appeared  strange 
to  dull-eyed  aristocrats  that  Pitt's  cultured  mind  should  bend  so  low 
as  to  deal  with  facts  and  figures;  at  first,  Gladstone's  lively  imagination 
and  classical  lore  appeared  a  team  of  racers  trying  to  do  the  work  of 
cart-horses  in  laboring  with  finance.  But  both  these  men  knew  that 
statesmanship  is  not  altogether  eloquence  or  poetry.  In  each  of  them 
was  a  spinal  column  of  inflexible  good  sense,  and  England  forgives 
much  in  them  because  they  triumphed  in  finance. 

Each  came  to  public  life,  the  one  in  Fox's  time,  the  other  in 
Byron's,  to  offer  to  his  country  what  neither  of  these  could  present,  the 
gift  of  pure  personal  character.  Both  had  read  much  theology.  Pitt 
had,  it  is  said,  found  more  questions  started  by  Butler's  Analogy  than 
that  excellent  treatise  answered;  Gladstone  spent  his  declining  years 
in  the  pious  labor  of  giving  to  it  lucid  exposition.  Pitt,  as  a  young 
man,  was  reverent  and  moral;  Gladstone  was  always  devoted  and 
deeply  religious.  Morals  without  religion  proved  "broken  cisterns 
which  could  hold  no  water."  Intellectually,  Pitt  was  ever  a  Cambridge 
man;  Gladstone  struggled,  like  Milton's  lion,  "to  get  free"  from  Ox- 
ford, and  made  a  lifelong  work  of  it,  which  was  finally  crowned  with 
triumph,  though  only  a  Gladstone,  even  at  the  last,  could  have  con- 
vinced him  of  this  fact. 

Gladstone  never  would  have  taken  the  post  of  Prime  Minister,  as 
did  Pitt,  when  the  latter  was  offered  it  for  the  second  time  and  accepted 


182  GLADSTONE:   A   BIOGRAPHICAL   STUDY. 

it  for  the  first  time,  for  it  came  to  Pitt  as  the  result  of  an  act  of  royal 
bad  faith.  Gladstone  never  took  a  Lord  Temple  upon  his  laborious 
shoulders,  as  did  Chatham's  son.  Pitt  was  Gladstone's  equal  in  his 
ability  to  withstand  abuse.  Everything,  however,  consists  in  how  a 
thing  is  done,  and  Pitt  was  Gladstone's  inferior  in  possessing  the  moral 
power  from  which  assailants  retire  as  cowards.  The  first  was  self- 
confident,  haughty  and  wary;  the  second  was  confident  of  the  sure 
basis  of  justice,  inflexible  as  truth,  and  he  risked  all  with  an  impulsive 
carelessness  which  tried  friend  and  foe  alike.  Pitt  contrasted  his  in- 
dubitable purity  in  the  Pells  Clerkship  case  with  the  unblushing  cor- 
ruption of  the  Court.  He  was,  perhaps,  as  sagacious,  however,  as  he 
was  stainless.  His  defeat  of  foes  which  crowded  to  hurl  him  from 
power  can  be  matched  only  by  Gladstone's  overwhelming  entrance 
to  power  when  Disraeli  fell.  He  could  handle  a  jumble  of  elements, 
as  Gladstone  drove  his  famous  "four-in-hand," — and  each  confounded 
Toryism  with  a  noble  disregard  of  privileged  classes.  Such  a  personal 
quarrel  as  that  of  Pitt  with  Fox  was  impossible  to  Gladstone,  but  such 
triumphs  as  his  in  finance  were  the  glory  of  the  later  commoner.  Each 
stoutly  protected  the  public  credit;  each  hated  magic  in  fiscal  economy; 
but  while  Pitt  felt  with  no  deterring  force  the  fact  that  the  future  of  a 
country  ought  not  to  be  mortgaged  by  the  debts  incurred  in  the  past, 
Gladstone  insisted  that  the  expense  of  the  Crimean  War  should  be  paid 
at  once.  No  such  indictment  of  the  latter's  career  has  ever  been  offered 
as  that  which  was  framed  against  Pitt  in  these  well-known  words: 
"Mr.  Pitt's  memory  needs  no  statues.  Six  hundred  millions  of  irre- 
deemable debt  are  the  eternal  record  of  his  fame."  Pitt,  however,  was 
a  prophet.  He  foretold  Cobden's  victory ;  he  hopefully  looked  toward 
free  trade.  Gladstone  came  and  made  its  statutes  work  with  ease. 
In  both  cases,  the  fathers  of  these  sons,  Chatham  and  Sir  John  Glad- 
stone, had  to  be  thrown  overboard,  for  they  were  Protectionists.  Pitt 
might  have  written  Gladstone's  great  words  which  helped  to  bind 
France  and  England  together,  not  as  grappling  foes,  but  as  friendly 
states,  and,  adopting  Adam  Smith's  opinions,  Pitt  fought  for  free  trade, 
except  in  corn,  for  Ireland  against  her  own  Burke.  On  the  subject  of 
Parliamentary  Reform,  high  office  made  Pitt  timid  and  Gladstone  fear- 


THE  BUDGET  OF  1861.  183 

less.  He  created  peers,  seven  scores  of  them.  Gladstone  also  created 
peers,  but  he  sent  up  to  the  Lords  his  measures  which  shook  their  House 
with  peril.  Pitt  made  them  for  votes;  Gladstone  defied  them,  refused 
to  be  made  an  earl,  and  was  content  with  defeat.  Gladstone  honored 
the  great  men  of  literature,  and  educated  the  populace.  Pitt  did  neither. 
Pitt  taxed  the  newspapers;  Gladstone  removed  the  duty  on  paper. 
The  former,  however,  reformed  the  shameless  Libel  Law,  and  gave 
Eldon  to  England,  to  reform  other  legislation,  while  he  dealt  unsparing 
blows  against  slavery,  whose  horrors  Gladstone  forgot  when  he  said 
Jefferson  Davis  had  created  a  new  nation.  The  Tests  Act,  which  he 
kept  in  force,  Gladstone  repealed.  Catholic  Emancipation,  which  Pitt 
at  first  favored,  was  to  come  in  Gladstone's  full  noonday. 

Greater  still  is  the  contrast,  the  one  tottering  to  his  grave,  prema- 
turely aged  and  worn,  the  other  young,  and  buoyant  at  eighty.  Pitt 
was  affrighted  at  Liberalism  as  it  came  out  of  the  wreck  of  the  French 
Revolution,  and  at  length  he  leaned  toward  war  with  France.  The 
war  came,  but  not  as  expected.  He  attacked  the  liberty  of  speech 
and  writing  in  England.  The  Habeas  Corpus  Act  was  suspended. 
Ireland  and  Scotland  knew  a  veritable  reign  of  terror.  Gladstone 
failed,  it  may  be,  as  a  War  Minister,  for  he  was  a  man  of  peace. 
William  Pitt  failed  as  a  War  Minister,  without  the  loss  of  a  single  good 
intention.  He  at  last  disclaimed  friendship  for  Catholic  Emancipation. 
The  war  went  on.  In  certain  aspects  it  was  a  great  war,  but  in  the 
glory  of  Wellington's  victory,  it  must  be  remembered  that  Pitt  had  lost 
faith  in  the  powers  which  alone  will  conquer  Bonapartism.  Without  the 
deepest  confidence  in  them,  and  without  the  unswerving  devotion  to 
them  which  alone  brings  deepest  confidence  in  the  necessary  and  there- 
fore ultimate  triumph  of  the  principles  of  free  government,  Pitt's  heart 
was  broken  by  the  specter  of  Napoleon  at  Austerlitz;  Gladstone,  on  the 
other  hand,  saw  specter  after  specter  appear  in  defeat  after  defeat,  and  so 
sure  was  he  that  the  evolution  under  God  of  "the  parliament  of  man,  the 
federation  of  the  world"  is  hastening  that  nothing  could  break  that  tire- 
less, dauntless  heart. 

The  Budget  of  1862  again  brought  Gladstone  to  the  front  as  a 
great  Finance  Minister,  a  greater  orator,  and  a  man  more  certain 


184  GLADSTONE:   A   BIOGRAPHICAL   STUDY. 

than  ever  that  the  House  of  Lords  would  make  itself  impossible  in 
England  if  it  continued  in  its  career  of  obstruction.  England  was 
proud  and  almost  self-glorious  when,  in  early  May,  1862,  the  great 
Crystal  Palace  Exhibition  was  opened.  A  deep  shadow  lay  upon  the 
British  public  mind,  which  came  from  the  fact  that  the  Prince  Consort 
had  suddenly  terminated  his  career  just  when  the  prospects  of  this 
enterprise  were  most  bright. 

Early  in  1863  Dean  Stanley  was  his  guest  and  the  following  account 
of  the  visit  is  taken,  by  permission,  from  "The  Life  and  Letters  of  Dean 
Stanley,"  published  by  Charles  Scribner's  Sons: 

"When  I  arrived,  there  were  only  the  two  little  Gladstone  boys 
there— at  tea — Herbert  and  Henry — good  little  creatures.  They  were 
in  some  alarm  at  having  dropped  some  jam  onto  the  crystalline  butter- 
bowl.  But  I  managed  to  mop  it  up  with  my  pocket-handkerchief. 

"After  dinner  the  subject  of  subscription  was  introduced.  We  went 
on  discussing  it  till  after  the  ladies  were  gone  and  on  till  12:30  P.  M. 
(sic).  It  was  an  immense  relief  to  me.  Gladstone  was  most  satisfac- 
tory. If  he  were  to  say  publicly  what  he  said  privately,  the  question 
would  be  settled.  I  was  extremely  glad  to  have  the  opportunity  of 
giving  him  all  my  mind;  and  he,  lending  himself  to  it  with  the  astound- 
ing readiness  which  he  has,  completely  understood  everything  which 
I  said. 

"What  made  all  this  profusion  of  talk  the  more  remarkable  was, 
that  he  was  full  of  the  Budget,  which  comes  on  next  Thursday." 


CHAPTER  XXI. 
THE   AMERICAN    CIVIL   WAR. 

It  would  be  a  delight  if  an  American  student,  rejoicing  up  to  this 
point  in  that  continuously  advancing  Americanism  which  was  at  last 
the  salt  that  lost  not  its  savor  in  Mr.  Gladstone's  politics  and  prophe- 
cies, might  leave  out  of  a  chronicle  such  as  this  any  account  of  a  most 
strange  wandering  upon  his  part,  when  the  life  of  the  American  Union 
was  trembling  in  the  balance  and  all  the  principles  which  later  on  Glad- 
stone espoused  and  defended  were  waging  a  fierce  battle  against  armed 
foes.  Not  only  was  the  experiment  of  American  self-government  on 
trial,  but  the  very  chrysalis  in  which  these  energies  were  working  for 
finer  and  larger  results  for  all  humanity  was  threatened.  Gladstone's 
biographers  in  England  have  not  truly  estimated  the  righteous  indigna- 
tion felt  by  American  lovers  of  constitutional  government,  when,  from 
across  the  sea,  there  came  such  formidable  prophecies  of  our  national 
ruin  as  could  only  carry  wildest  hope  into  the  bosoms  of  the  foes  of 
our  Government.  More  than  this  was  involved  in  the  Civil  War  in 
America,  for  that  contest  was  to  decide  whether  the  institution  of 
slavery  should  be  made  into  a  cornerstone  for  a  political  temple,  or 
whether,  in  the  name  of  civilization  and  humanity,  it  should  be  crushed 
to  pieces.  The  English  Government  had  looked  upon  the  election 
of  Abraham  Lincoln  as  an  event  of  too  slight  importance  to  justify  the 
Southern  States  in  commencing  war,  but  they  had  seen  the  South  open 
hostilities.  English  publicists  like  John  Stuart  Mill  and  Thomas 
Hughes,  writers  like  Harriet  Martineau,  and  reformers  like  Clarkson, 
Wilberforce  and  George  Thompson,  had  warned  England  that  the 
curse  of  human  slavery  was  determined  to  arrogate  to  itself  new  terri- 
tory at  all  costs.  Upon  the  proposition  that  no  more  territory  should  be 
given  to  slavery,  Mr.  Lincoln  was  elected.  Sumter  had  been  fired 
upon  and  the  war  of  secession  was  begun.  Lord  John  Russell,  in  the 


186  GLADSTONE:   A    BIOGRAPHICAL    STUDY 

House  of  Commons,  on  the  iSth  of  May,  1861,  announced  that  "after 
consulting  the  law  officers  of  the  Crown,  the  Government  were  of  opin- 
ion that  the  Southern  Confederacy  must  be  recognized  as  a  belligerent 
power."  The  Neutrality  Proclamation  was  made  May  I3th.  The 
Government  of  England  warned  all  Her  Majesty's  subjects  from  enlist- 
ing on  either  side  or  giving  aid  or  comfort  to  either  contestant.  The 
English  Government  did  not  wait  for  the  arrival  of -the  new  American 
Minister,  Mr.  Charles  Francis  Adams,  that  they  might  be  informed  upon 
the  merits  of  the  question  as  to  whether  this  proclamation  ought  to  be 
issued.  Even  Mr.  Forster  made  the  mistake  of  supposing  that  this  was 
an  announcement  of  war,  and  if  there  were  no  war  recognized,  neither 
would  the  blockade  of  Southern  ports  by  the  Northern  powers  be 
recognized  by  anybody.  The  air  became  rilled  with  a  confusion  of 
voices.  Lancashire  had  the  ear  of  Gladstone,  and  he  saw  mills,  which 
depended  upon  the  export  of  cotton  from  America  to  England,  shut 
down,  and  the  working  people  were  in  dire  distress.  John  Bright  saw 
more  clearly  than  the  philosophy  of  the  soup-kitchens  which  were 
established  all  through  Lancashire  to  relieve  the  working  people  whom 
the  war  in  the  United  States  had  deprived  of  the  opportunity  of  labor. 
He  counseled  and  guided  them  until  they  arose  with  the  spirit  of 
humanity  to  a  height  not  usually  reached  by  our  race.  Lord  Palmers- 
ton  waited  as  long  as  he  could,  and  at  last  took  an  attitude  in  which 
he  exploded  his  wrath  and  displayed  haughtily  the  banner  of  England 
in  the  face  of  America.  Steadily  America  and  England  looked  for 
Gladstone  to  speak,  and  he  spoke  not.  At  last,  at  Newcastle-on-Tyne, 
October  9th,  1862,  he  said,  with  more  than  his  usual  solemnity  and 
dogmatism:  "Jefferson  Davis  has  made  a  new  nation;  he  has  made  an 
army;  he  has  made  a  navy,"  and  he  loaned  his  eloquence  to  the  idea 
that  the  experiment  of  free  government  in  America  had  so  far  failed. 
Gladstone's  speech  was  of  great  service  to  the  American  people  only  in 
this,  that  it  made  the  North  review  carefully  the  reasons  for  previous 
action,  and  settled  without  question  the  conviction  of  the  advocates  of 
the  Union  that,  while  a  great  man  had  gone  wrong  in  England,  they 
were  right  in  America.  It  is  not  remarkable  that  at  such  a  crisis  in 
our  affairs  the  spirit  embodied  in  Charles  Sumner  should  be  perplexed 


THE    AMERICAN    CIVIL    WAR.  187 

at  the  attitude  of  England.  An  excellent  account  of  Stunner's  mind 
and  movements  on  this  topic  is  given  in  the  valuable  biography  of  the 
American  Senator  by  his  friend,  Edward  L.  Pierce.  Here  we  find  that 
Stunner  addressed  Mr.  Bright,  July  21,  as  follows: 

"I  have  read  the  debate  of  the  3Oth  of  June.  Your  last  words 
touched  the  whole  question  to  the  quick.  The  guilt  of  this  attempt 
is  appalling;  but  next  to  the  slave-mongers  is  England  with  a  grinning 
neutrality.  My  friend  Mr.  Gladstone  dealt  with  the  whole  question 
as  if  there  were  no  God.  Englishmen  may  doubt.  I  tell  you,  there  can 
be  but  one  end  to  this  war.  I  care  not  for  any  temporary  success  of 
the  slave-mongers,  they  must  fail;  but  English  sympathy  is  a  mighty 
encouragement.  You  will  note  our  success  in  the  Southwest;  every- 
thing there  is  against  the  rebellion.  There  is  a  pretty  good  reason  to 
believe  that  Charleston  will  soon  be  ours.  Lee's  army  has  lost  thirty 
thousand  men,  and  I  arn  inclined  to  think  now  must  be  much  demoral- 
ized. We  are  too  victorious;  I  fear  more  from  our  victories  than  our 
defeats.  If  the  rebellion  should  suddenly  collapse,  Democrats,  copper- 
heads, and  Seward  would  insist  upon  amnesty  and  the  Union,  and  'no 
question  asked  about  slavery.'  God  save  us  from  such  calamity!  If 
Lee's  army  had  been  smashed,  that  question  would  have  been  upon 
us.  Before  this  comes,  I  wish  two  hundred  thousand  negroes  with 
muskets  in  their  hands,  and  then  I  shall  not  fear  compromise.  Time 
is  essential;  so  great  a  revolution  cannot  come  to  a  close  at  once." 

Men  who  had  watched  his  growth  from  Conservatism  in  the  di- 
rection of  Liberalism  were  startled  and  deeply  grieved  at  Gladstone's 
taking  a  position  so  indefensible.  Nothing  better  was  expected  of 
Palmerston,  but  it  \vas  thought  that  Gladstone  would  walk  with  Cob- 
den  and  Bright  in  unfaltering  fidelity  to  the  interests  of  freedom. 

Another  great  result  helpful  to  the  cause  of  the  Union  in  America 
which  Gladstone's  unfortunate  speech  brought  about  was  this,  that 
every  such  orator  as  John  Bright  found  his  speech  more  intelligent  and 
comprehensive  in  eloquence  than  ever  before  and  gladly  gave  its  rich- 
ness and  power  to  the  cause  of  liberty.  Bright  spoke  in  reply  to  Glad- 
stone at  Birmingham  on  December  i8th,  and  among  other  things  he 
said: 


1 88  GLADSTONE:   A   BIOGRAPHICAL   STUDY. 

"I  am  very  happy  that,  though  the  Chancellor  of  the  Exchequer 
is  able  to  decide  to  a  penny  what  shall  be  the  amount  of  taxes  to 
meet  public  expenditure  in  England,  he  cannot  decide  what  shall  be 
the  fate  of  a  whole  continent. 

"I  say,  it  is  the  home  of  the  working  man;  as  one  of  her  poets  re- 
cently said: 

'For  her  free  latch-string  never  was  drawn  in 
Against  the  poorest  child  of  Adam's  kin.' 

"And  in  that  land  there  is  no  six  millions  of  grown  men — I  speak  of 
the  Free  States — excluded  from  the  constitution  of  their  country  and  its 
electoral  franchise;  there  you  will  find  a  free  church,  a  free  school, 
free  land,  a  free  vote,  and  a  free  career  for  the  child  of  the  humblest 
born  in  the  land.  My  countrymen,  who  work  for  your  living,  remember 
this;  there  will  be  one  wild  shriek  of  freedom  to  startle  all  mankind 
if  that  American  Republic  should  be  overthrown. 

"Now  for  one  moment  let  us  lift  ourselves,  if  we  can,  above  the 
narrow  circle  in  which  we  are  too  often  apt  to  live  and  think;  let  us 
put  ourselves  on  an  historical  eminence,  and  judge  this  matter  fairly. 
Slavery  has  been,  as  we  all  know,  the  huge  foul  blot  upon  the  fame 
of  the  American  Republic;  it  is  a  hideous  outrage  against  human  right 
and  against  Divine  law,  but  the  pride,  the  passion  of  man,  will  not 
permit  its  peaceable  extinction.  The  slave-owners  in  our  colonies,  if 
they  had  been  strong  enough,  would  have  revolted  too.  I  believe 
there  was  no  mode  short  of  a  miracle  more  stupendous  than  any  re- 
corded in  Holy  Writ  that  could  in  our  time  or  in  a  century,  or  in  any 
time,  have  brought  about  the  abolition  of  slavery  in  America,  but  the 
suicide  which  the  South  has  committed  and  the  war  which  it  has 
begun. 

"I  blame  men  who  are  eager  to  admit  into  the  family  of  nations  a 
State  which  offers  itself  to  us,  based  upon  a  principle,  I  will  undertake 
to  say,  more  odious  and  more  blasphemous  than  was  ever  before 
dreamed  of  in  Christian  or  Pagan,  in  civilized  or  in  savage  times.  The 
leader  of  this  revolt  proposes  this  monstrous  thing — that  over  a  ter- 
ritory forty  times  as  large  as  England  the  blight  and  curse  of  slavery 


THE    AMERICAN    CIVIL   WAR.  189 

shall  be  forever  perpetuated.  I  can  not  believe,  for  my  part,  that  such 
a  fate  shall  befall  that  fair  land,  stricken  though  it  now  is  with  the 
ravages  of  war.  I  cannot  believe  that  civilization,  in  its  journey  with 
the  sun,  will  sink  into  endless  night  in  order  to  gratify  the  ambition  of 
the  leaders  of  this  revolt,  who  seek  to 

'Wade  through  slaughter  to  a  throne, 
And  shut  the  gates  of  mercy  on  mankind.' 

"I  have  another  and  a  far  brighter  vision  before  my  gaze.  It  may 
be  but  a  vision,  but  I  will  cherish  it.  I  see  one  vast  confederation 
stretching  from  the  frozen  North  in  unbroken  line  to  the  glowing 
South,  and  from  the  wild  billows  of  the  Atlantic  westward  to  the 
calmer  waters  of  the  Pacific  main — and  I  see  one  people,  and  one  lan- 
guage, and  one  law,  and  one  faith,  and,  over  that  wide  continent,  the 
home  of  freedom,  and  a  refuge  for  the  oppressed  of  every  race  and  of 
every  clime." 

For  such  a  speech  as  this  Gladstone  had  no  rejoinder. 

The  aspect  of  things  was  transformed  by  the  autumn  of  1863.  Mr. 
Bright  wrote  to  Sumner,  September  nth: 

"It  would  be  curious  to  have  a  speech  from  Gladstone  now.  Per- 
haps he  is  beginning  to  doubt  whether  Jeff  Davis  has  made  a  nation. 
There  is  much  cleverness  mixed  with  little  wisdom,  or  much  folly, 
in  some  men,  and  our  Chancellor  seems  to  be  one  of  them.  I  think 
I  shall  make  a  selection  from  the  writings  of  the  'Times'  and  the 
speeches  of  our  public  men,  and  publish  them,  that  their  ignorance  and 
folly  may  not  be  forgotten." 

No  one  has  more  thoroughly  regretted  Gladstone's  lapse  from  the 
high  confidence  to  which  he  had  been  growing  and  which  ultimately 
enabled  him  to  adopt  the  ideas  of  Home  Rule  for  Ireland  than  did 
Gladstone  himself.  Five  years  elapsed,  and  to  a  New  York  corre- 
spondent he  made  acknowledgment  of  his  error.  "I  must  confess,"  he 
wrote,  "that  I  was  wrong;  that  I  took  too  much  upon  myself  in  ex- 
pressing such  an  opinion.  Yet  the  motive  was  not  bad.  My  sympathies 
were  then — where  they  had  long  before  been,  where  they  are  now — 
with  the  whole  American  people.  I,  probably,  like  many  Europeans, 


190  GLADSTONE:   A    BIOGRAPHICAL   STUDY. 

did  not  understand  the  nature  and  workings  of  the  American  Union. 
I  had  imbibed,  consciously,  if  erroneously,  an  opinion  that  twenty  or 
twenty-four  millions  of  the  North  would  be  happier  and  would  be 
stronger  (of  course  assuming  that  they  would  hold  together)  without 
the  South  than  with  it,  and  also  that  the  negroes  would  be  much  nearer 
to  emancipation  under  a  Southern  Government  than  under  the  old 
system  of  the  Union,  which  had  not  at  that  date  (August,  1862)  been 
abandoned,  and  which  always  appeared  to  me  to  place  the  whole  power 
of  the  North  at  the  command  of  the  slave-holding  interests  of  the 
South.  As  far  as  regards  the  special  or  separate  interest  of  England 
in  the  matter,  I,  differing  from  many  others,  had  always  contended 
that  it  was  best  for  our  interest  that  the  Union  should  be  kept  entire." 

It  is  absurd  to  attempt  an  apology  for  Mr.  Gladstone  which  does 
not  at  once  invite  the  force  of  the  usual  remark,  oftentimes  made  so 
justly  with  reference  to  him  and  his  career:  "Here  is  Oxford  scholasti- 
cism in  the  role  of  an  explanation." 

It  is  a  delight  to  turn  from  such  a  page  as  this  in  Gladstone's  his- 
tory, to  one  of  the  greatest  of  the  American  periodicals  ,to  which  he 
afterwards  contributed  and  find  him  face  to  face  with  the  future  of 
America,  himself  a  thoroughgoing  Englishman,  but  withal  a  philoso- 
pher and  prophet  of  a  statesmanship  to  which  in  1863  he  was  partially 
a  stranger. 

'There  were  the  strongest  reasons  why  America  could  not 
grow  into  a  reflection  or  repetition  of  England.  Passing  from  a 
narrow  island  to  a  continent  almost  without  bounds,  the  colonists  at 
once  and  vitally  altered  their  conditions  of  thought,  as  well  as  of  exist- 
ence, in  relation  to  the  most  important  and  most  operative  of  all  social 
facts,  the  possession  of  the  soil.  In  England,  inequality  lies  imbedded 
in  the  very  base  of  the  social  structure;  in  America  it  is  a  late,  incidental, 
unrecognized  product,  not  of  tradition,  but  of  industry  and  wealth,  as 
they  advance  with  various  and,  of  necessity,  unequal  steps.  Heredity, 
seated  as  an  idea  in  the  heart's  core  of  Englishmen,  and  sustaining  far 
more  than  it  is  sustained  by  those  of  our  institutions  which  express  it, 
was  as  truly  absent  from  the  intellectual  and  moral  store,  with  which 
the  colonists  traversed  the  Atlantic,  as  if  it  had  been  some  forgotten 


THE    AMERICAN    CIVIL    WAR.  191 

article  in  the  bills  of  lading  that  made  up  their  cargoes.  Equality  com- 
bined with  liberty,  and  renewable  at  each  descent  from  one  generation 
to  another,  like  a  lease  with  stipulated  breaks,  was  the  groundwork  of 
their  social  creed.  In  vain  was  it  sought,  by  arrangements  such  as  those 
connected  with  the  name  of  Baltimore  or  of  Penn,  to  qualify  the  action 
of  those  overpowering  forces  which  so  determined  the  case.  Slavery 
itself,  strange  as  it  now  may  seem,  failed  to  impair  the  theory  however 
it  may  have  imported  into  the  practice  a  hideous  solecism.  No  hardier 
republicanism  was  generated  in  New  England  than  in  the  Slave  States 
of  the  South,  which  produced  so  many  of  the  great  statesmen  of 
America." 

Coming  to  our  Civil  War,-he  said: 

"The  Civil  War  compelled  the  States,  both  North  and  South,  to  train 
and  embody  a  million  and  a  half  of  men,  and  to  present  to  view  the 
greatest,  instead  of  the  smallest,  armed  forces  in  the  world.  Here 
there  was  supposed  to  arise  a  double  danger.  First  that,  on  a  sudden 
cessation  of  the  war,  military  life  and  habits  could  not  be  shaken  off, 
and,  having  become  rudely  and  widely  predominant,  would  bias  the 
country  towards  an  aggressive  policy,  or,  still  worse,  would  find  vent  in 
predatory  or  revolutionary  operations.  Secondly,  that  a  military  caste 
would  grow  up  with  its  habits  of  exclusiveness  and  command,  and 
would  influence  the  tone  of  politics  in  a  direction  adverse  to  republican 
freedom.  But  both  apprehensions  proved  to  be  wholly  imaginary. 
The  innumerable  soldiery  was  at  once  dissolved.  Cincinnatus,  no  longer 
an  unique  example,  became  the  commonplace  of  every  day,  the  type 
and  mold  of  a  nation.  The  whole  enormous  mass  quietly  resumed  the 
habits  of  social  life.  The  generals  of  yesterday  were  the  editors,  the 
secretaries,  and  the  solicitors  of  to-day.  The  just  jealousy  of  the  State 
gave  life  to  the  now  forgotten  maxim  of  Judge  Blackstone,  who  de- 
nounced as  perilous  the  erection  of  a  separate  profession  of  arms  in  a 
free  country.  The  standing  army,  expanded  by  the  heat  of  civil  contest 
to  gigantic  dimensions,, settled  down  again  into  the  framework  of  a 
miniature  with  the  returning  temperature  of  civil  life,  and  became  a 
power  well  nigh  invisible,  from  its  minuteness,  amidst  the  powers  which 
sway  the  movements  of  a  society  exceeding  forty  millions. 

"More  remarkable  still  was  the  financial  sequel  to  the  great  conflict. 


192  GLADSTONE:   A   BIOGRAPHICAL   STUDY. 

The  internal  taxation  for  Federal  purposes,  which  before  its  commence- 
ment had  been  unknown,  was  raised,  in  obedience  to  an  exigency  of 
life  and  death,  so  as  to  exceed  every  present  and  every  past  example. 
It  pursued  and  worried  all  the  transactions  of  life.  The  interest  of  the 
American  debt  grew  to  be  the  highest  in  the  world,  and  the  capital 
touched  five  hundred  and  sixty  millions  sterling.  Here  was  provided  for 
the  faith  and  patience  of  the  people  a  touchstone  of  extreme  severity. 
In  England,  at  the  close  of  the  great  French  war,  the  propertied  classes, 
who  were  supreme  in  Parliament,  at  once  rebelled  against  the  Tory 
Government,  and  refused  to  prolong  the  Income  Tax  even  for  a  single 
year.  We  talked  big,  both  then  and  now,  about  the  payment  of  our 
National  Debt;  but  sixty-three  years  have  since  elapsed,  all  of  them 
except  two  called  years  of  peace,  and  we  have  reduced  the  huge  total 
by  about  one-ninth." 

Thus  he  concluded: 

"But  I  will  not  close  this  paper  without  recording  my  conviction  that 
the  great  acts,  and  the  great  forbearances,  which  immediately  followed 
the  close  of  the  Civil  War  form  a  group  which  will  ever  be  a  noble  ob- 
ject, in  his  political  retrospect,  to  the  impartial  historian;  and  that,  pro- 
ceeding as  they  did  from  the  free  choice  and  conviction  of  the  people, 
and  founded  as  they  were  on  the  very  principles  of  which  the  multitude  is 
supposed  to  be  least  tolerant,  they  have,  in  doing  honor  to  the  United 
States,  also  rendered  a  splendid  service  to  the  general  cause  of  popular 
government  throughout  the  world." 

One  of  these  great  acts  of  forbearance  was  made  easy  by  the  devel- 
opment of  Americanism  in  Gladstone  himself. 

On  September  7,  in  1864,  we  find  Gladstone  welcoming  Garibaldi  to 
London.  Earlier  than  this,  in  a  long  and  keen  correspondence  in- 
volving Lord  Shrewsbury,  Anthony  Panizzi  and  Mr.  Gladstone  in 
controversy,  this  lover  of  liberty,  perhaps  recently  trained  to  step  to 
the  larger  music  of  freedom  with  his  unfortunate  experience  with  the 
American  war,  had  given  adequate  expression  to  his  sympathy  for  the 
struggles  of  the  Italian  people  toward  emancipation  and  unity.  Glad- 
stone had  shown  himself  intelligent  upon  the  general  theme  of  Italian 
patriotism  in  a  review  on  the  Roman  State,  published  years  before. 


THE    AMERICAN    CIVIL    WAR.  193 

In  all  these  years,  Gladstone's  mind  was  being  trained  to  say  of 
Garibaldi,  Cavour  and  Victor  Emmanuel:  "These  three  names  together 
form  for  Italians  a  tricolor  as  brilliant,  as  ever  fresh,  and,  I  hope,  as 
enduring,  for  many  and  many  generations,  as  that  national  flag  which 
now  waves  over  a  united  Italy."  Years  before,  in  his  denunciation  of 
the  Neapolitan  government,  he  had  shown  his  intrepidity  by  snatching 
a  phrase  which  he  heard  from  the  lips  of  an  oppressed  people:  "La 
Ncgazions  di  Dio  Eretta  a  Sistena  di  Governo."  By  his  indomitable 
will  and  the  force  of  his  shining  character,  he  had  commanded  the  atten- 
tion of  civilization,  until  the  world  believed  that  his  indictment  against 
Italian  misrule  was  proved  in  every  count.  It  was  but  the  beginning 
of  a  long  crusade  in  which  the  Italian  people  themselves  were  most 
heroic,  and  which  was  now  concluded  amidst  the  acclamations  of  a  free 
and  united  people. 

It  became  certain  that  the  genius  of  Lord  Palmerston,  assertive, 
narrowly  British,  and  commanding  as  it  was,  no  longer  represented  the 
widest  vision  of  the  modern  Englishman.  He  was  a  bluff  aristocrat,  de- 
clining the  appearance  of  enthusiasm  by  visiting  it  with  the  theories  of 
the  race-course.  He  blustered,  and  for  a  long  time  attracted  ordinary 
citizens  with  the  noise  he  made,  and  the  ardor  with  which  he  unfurled 
the  flag  of  England  whenever  something  more  important  needed  to  be 
done  for  the  honor  and  future  of  her  growing  life. 

It  began  to  be  evident  that  England  would  no  longer  be  bantered 
or  dazzled  or  joked  down,  or  even  threatened  by  Palmerston.  At 
eighty  years  of  age,  such  a  man  as  Gladstone  may  be  still  young,  but 
this  is  not  so  with  an  intelligence  such  as  Palmerston's.  If  he  con- 
ceded anything  to  freedom-loving  Lord  John  Russell,  it  must  be  a  Re- 
form Bill  of  1860  of  such  thin  consistency  as  to  furnish  nothing  but  an 
evidence  that  Palmerston  had  resolved  that  Reform  was  not  in  his 
line,  and  that  it  was  not  in  England's  line.  It  was  at  this  moment  that 
Gladstone  felt  that  the  people  had  been  educated  up  to  the  point  where, 
when  Palmerston  should  terminate  his  career,  England  would  demand 
a  director  of  affairs  whose  unquestionable  courage  must  be  matched 
by  the  largest  and  most  hopeful  intelligence.  Bishop  Wilberforce.  who 


194  GLADSTONE:   A   BIOGRAPHICAL   STUDY. 

anticipated  that  Gladstone  would  be  chosen  Prime  Minster  at  an  early 
day,  wrote  in  1863: 

"That  wretched  Pam  seems  to  me  to  get  worse  and  worse.  There 
is  not  a  particle  of  veracity  or  noble  feeling  that  I  have  ever  been  able 
to  trace  in  him.  He  manages  the  House  of  Commons  by  debauching 
it,  making  all  parties  laugh  at  one  another;  the  Tories  at  the  Liberals, 
by  his  defeating  all  Liberal  measures;  the  Liberals  at  the  Tories,  by 
their  consciousness  of  getting  everything  that  is  to  be  got  in  Church 
and  State;  and  all  at  one  another,  by  substituting  low  ribaldry  for  ar- 
gument, bad  jokes  for  principle,  and  an  openly-avowed,  vainglorious, 
imbecile  vanity  as  a  panoply  to  guard  himself  from  the  attacks  of  all 
thoughtful  men.  I  think  if  his  life  lasts  long,  it  must  cost  us  the  slight 
remains  of  Constitutional  Government  which  exist  among  us." 

Palmerston  himself  had  said:  "Gladstone  will  soon  have  it  all  his 
own  way;  and,  whenever  he  gets  my  place,  we  shall  have  strange 
doings."  Palmerston  was  the  sort  of  man  to  take  offense  at  intellectual 
and  political  liberality.  In  his  cynical  old  age  it  was  impossible  for 
him  not  to  feel  that  a  sprightly,  eager,  and  wide-eyed  soul  such  as  was 
Gladstone,  was  a  menace  to  the  England  which  he  had  served,  and 
which  he  had  tried  to  keep  within  the  bounds  of  his  own  aristocratic 
temperament.  Next  to  Bright  was  Gladstone  in  the  circle  of  Pahner- 
ston's  hate.  It  was  impossible  that  they  should  understand  one  another, 
when  it  was  the  night  struggling  with  the  day,  and  even  when  there 
was  external  harmony  prevailing,  it  was  still  the  quiet  harmony  of  that 
moment  between  day  and  night,  when  morning  streams  victoriously 
over  the  hills. 


CHAPTER  XXII. 
THE  SCHOLAR  AND  ORATOR. 

As  against  the  fading  figure  of  Palmerston,  distrustful  of  popular  gov- 
ernment at  the  last,  rose  the  form  of  Gladstone,  who  had  amazed  Eng- 
land's Conservatism.  All  these  things  were  treasured  up  against  Mr. 
Gladstone  by  the  learned  and  reactionary  constituents  who  thronged 
about  Oxford  University  and  clung  fast  to  the  Toryism  which  Glad- 
stone was  certainly  forsaking.  They  sought  to  defend  the  night  against 
the  morning  by  the  scholastic  methods  which  the  most  eminent  of 
Oxford's  modern  sons  ultimately  outgrew.  It  was  evident  that  his 
struggle  to  remain  a  representative  of  Oxford  University  in  the  Parlia- 
ment of  England  was  to  be  long  and  severe,  and  perhaps  end  in  defeat. 

It  is  a  beautiful  example  of  the  way  in  which  Gladstone's  mind  gave 
itself  truest  recreation  and  went  forth  to  refreshment,  returning  with 
power  from  his  excursions  from  politics  into  literature,  that  he  now 
spoke  so  eloquently  and  wisely  in  presenting  his  concluding  discourse 
as  Lord  Rector  of  the  University  of  Edinburgh.  In  it,  he  added  to 
the  world's  literature  one  of  the  most  comprehensive  and  philosophic 
of  the  creations  of  his  mind.  His  address  had  as  its  title,  "The  Place  of 
Ancient  Greece  in  the  Providential  Order  of  the  World." 

He  was  in  the  plenitude  of  his  physical  and  intellectual  power.  The 
delivery  of  the  address  was  calm  and  yet  energetic,  his  genius  kindling 
as  he  rose  to  supreme  places  in  classic  oratory. 

Many  phases  of  the  theme  he  illustrated  with  abundant  learning  and 
graceful  oratory.  But  he  never  seemed  more  deeply  eloquent,  for  he 
was  never  more  truly  moved  in  all  his  soul,  than  when  he  turned  to 
the  Religion  of  the  Bible  and  said : 

"But  indeed  there  is  no  need,  in  order  to  a  due  appreciation  of  our 
debt  to  the  ancient  Greeks,  that  we  should  either  forget  or  disparage 
the  function  which  was  assigned  by  the  Almighty  Father  to  His  most 

195 


196  GLADSTONE:   A   BIOGRAPHICAL   STUDY. 

favored  people.  Much  profit,  says  St.  Paul,  had  the  Jew  in  every  way. 
He  had  the  oracles  of  God;  he  had  the  custody  of  the  promises;  he 
was  the  steward  of  the  great  and  fundamental  conception  of  the  unity 
of  God,  the  sole  and  absolute  condition  under  which  the  Divine  idea 
could  be  upheld  among  men  at  its  just  elevation.  No  poetry,  no  phi- 
losophy, no  art  of  Greece,  ever  embraced,  in  its  most  soaring  and  widest 
conceptions,  that  simple  law  of  love  towards  God  and  towards  our 
neighbor,  on  which  'two  commandments  hang  all  the  law  and  the 
prophets,'  and  which  supplied  the  moral  basis  of  the  new  dispensation. 

"There  is  one  history,  and  that  the  most  touching  and  most  pro- 
found of  all,  for  which  we  should  search  in  vain  through  all  the  pages  of 
the  classics, — I  mean  the  history  of  the  human  soul  in  its  relations  with 
its  Maker;  the  history  of  its  sin,  and  grief,  and  death,  and  of  the  way  of 
its  recovery  to  hope  and  life,  and  to  enduring  joy.  For  the  exercises  of 
strength  and  skill,  for  the  achievements  and  for  the  enchantments  of 
wit,  of  eloquence,  of  art,  of  genius,  for  the  imperial  games  of  politics  and 
war — let  us  seek  them  on  the  shores  of  Greece.  But  if  the  first  among 
the  problems  of  life  be  how  to  establish  the  peace,  and  restore  the  bal- 
ance, of  our  inward  being;  if  the  highest  of  all  conditions  in  the  exist- 
ence of  the  creature  be  his  aspect  towards  the  God  to  whom  he  owes  his 
being,  and  in  whose  great  hand  he  stands;  then  let  us  make  our  search 
elsewhere.  All  the  wonders  of  the  Greek  civilization  heaped  .together 
are  less  wonderful  than  is  the  single  Book  of  Psalms. 

"Palestine  was  weak  and  despised,  always  obscure,  oftentimes  and 
long  trodden  down  beneath  the  feet  of  imperious  masters.  On  the  other 
hand,  Greece,  for  a  thousand  years, 

"Confident  from  foreign  purposes," 

repelled  every  invader  from  her  shores.  Fostering  her  strength  in  the 
keen  air  of  freedom,  she  defied,  and  at  length  overthrew,  the  mightiest 
of  existing  empires;  and  when  finally  she  felt  the  resistless  grasp  of  the 
masters  of  all  the  world,  them,  too,  at  the  very  moment  of  her  subjuga- 
tion, she  herself  subdued  to  her  literature,  language,  arts,  and  manners. 
Palestine,  in  a  word,  had  no  share  of  the  glories  of  our  race;  while  they 
blaze  on  every  page  of  the  history  of  Greece  with  an  overpowering 


THE   SCHOLAR   AND   ORATOR.  197 

splendor.  Greece  had  valor,  policy,  renown,  genius,  wisdom,  wit;  she 
had  all,  in  a  word,  that  this  world  could  give  her;  but  the  flowers  of 
Paradise,  which  blossom  at  the  best  but  thinly,  blossomed  in  Palestine 
alone." 

After  nearly  two  hours  of  golden  speech,  he  concluded  thus: 
"Everywhere,  before  us,  and  behind  us,  and  around  us,  and  above 
us  and  beneath,  we  shall  find  the  Power  which — 

"Lives  through  all  life,  extends  through  all  extent, 
Spreads  undivided,  operates  unspent." 

And,  together  with  the  Power,  we  shall  find  the  Goodness  and  the 
Wisdom  of  which  that  sublime  Power  is  but  a  minister.  Nor  can  that 
wisdom  and  that  goodness  anywhere  shine  forth  with  purer  splendor 
than  when  the  Divine  forethought,  working  from  afar,  in  many  places, 
and  through  many  generations,  so  adjusts  beforehand  the  acts  and 
the  affairs  of  men  as  to  let  them  all  converge  upon  a  single  point; 
namely,  upon  that  redemption  of  the  world,  by  God  made  Man,  in 
which  all  the  rays  of  His  glory  are  concentrated,  and  from  which  they 
pour  forth  a  flood  of  healing  light  even  over  the  darkest  and  saddest 
places  of  creation." 

Mr.  Gladstone  first  appeared  as  an  author  on  the  great  theme  of 
Homer,  at  an  hour  when  the  proclamation  of  the  theories  of  Wolf, 
Lachmann  and  Hermann  had  begun  to  lose  a  little  of  its  jauntiness  and 
to  indicate  the  absurdity  of  its  dogmatism.  It  is  an  interesting  fact  to 
note  that  the  orthodox  view  of  Homer  and  of  the  Homeric  poems,  in 
so  far  as  it  was  advocated  by  Mr.  Gladstone,  is  stronger  to-day  than 
it  was  when  he  wrote,  whatever  may  have  been  the  general  opinions 
with  respect  to  the  value  of  his  ingenious  essays.  He  was  already 
Doctor  of  Civil  Law,  as  well  as  leader  in  the  British  Parliament,  and 
was  known  as  an  erudite  and  eloquent  man  who  touched  every  subject 
at  least  with  cleverness  and  brilliancy,  and  who  scarcely  spoke  or  wrote 
without  betraying  an  almost  contagious  enthusiasm  and  thus  creating 
a  love  in  his  hearer  or  reader  for  pure  and  noble  thought  as  well  as 
musical  rhetoric.  These  elements  were  expected  by  scholars,  to  enter 
and  p!ay  no  small  part  in  the  perpetual  charm  which  the  announced  vol- 


198  GLADSTONE:  A   BIOGRAPHICAL   STUDY. 

umes  would  exercise  over  the  reading  public.  It  was  an  easy  way  of 
getting  rid  for  a  moment  of  Mr.  Gladstone's  influence  in  politics,  to  say 
that  he  could  not  reason  without  sophistry  because  bewildering  soph- 
isms were  of  the  bent  and  tendency  of  his  mind.  The  Whigs  who  were 
dissatisfied  with  him  charged  this  up  to  his  Oxford  training,  and  the 
Tories  insisted  that  they  had  acutely  observed  that  it  was  innate  and 
incurable.  It  was  also  urged  that  his  was  not  a  mind  which  realized 
vividly  and  deeply  as  by  the  divination  of  genius  a  great  truth  seen  only 
from  the  watch-tower  of  the  highest  imagination.  Scholarship  was 
quite  ready,  however,  to  welcome  the  three  volumes  of  excellent  and 
eloq-uent  writing,  upon  a  subject  beset  with  all  manner  of  difficulties, 
each  of  which  involved  most  accurate  induction  and  profoundest 
scholarship  for  even  its  respectable  treatment.  Those  who  settled  the 
business  of  particles,  as  did  Browning's  dead  grammarian,  were  ready. 
Reviewers  were  not  therefore  surprised  that  Homer's  own  winged  words 
had  influenced  Mr.  Gladstone  into  a  too  energetic  use  of  his  own  wings, 
and  that  therefore  the  three  volumes,  in  which  were  collected  the  re- 
sults of  his  studies  of  Homer,  were  unnecessarily  long,  marred  by  his 
usual  brilliant  plausibilities,  and  yet  glorious  with  the  radiance  of  an 
orator's  mind.  Indeed,  in  writing,  it  was  always  very  difficult  for  Mr. 
Gladstone  the  scholar  and  expositor  to  get  away  from  Mr.  Gladstone 
the  orator.  He  did  love  the  effects  produced  by  a  sincerely  eloquent 
man.  His  translations  of  the  classics,  especially  of  the  ancient  poets, 
indicate  a  poetical  rhetoric,  rather  than  imagination  all  compact  and 
that  inevitableness,  as  Emerson  termed  it,  in  the  use  of  words,  which 
characterize  the  poet  and  even  the  excellent  translator  of  poetry.  He 
has  an  abundance  of  force  and  skill,  but  they  are  the  force  and  skill  of  the 
orator,  not  of  the  poet,  not  even  of  the  best  sort  of  ordinary  literary 
man.  Nothing  that  he  has  done  lacks  his  ardor  in  tempo  and  melody, 
and  in  much  of  his  work  as  a  translator  he  reaches  profound  harmony. 
His  work  never  suffers  from  weakness,  but  on  the  contrary,  it  is  re- 
markably vigorous;  yet  the  music  and  the  power  belong  rather  to  the 
orator  than  to  the  true  singer  or  the  inspirited  translator.  His  imag- 
ination in  this  first  study  of  Homer  was  as  faithful  to  him  as  ever  this 
unsurpassed  power  of  his  had  been  in  the  illumination  of  the  apparently 


THE  SCHOLAR  AND  ORATOR.          199. 

sordid  concerns  of  fiscal  science  or  in  the  handling. of  the  thorny  dif- 
ficulties of  Ireland's  misgovernment.  In  his  translations  he  did  not 
disdain  to  give  touches  even  of  beauty  and  of  suggestiveness,  which 
came  not  from  Homer's  mind.  Mr.  Bentlcy  said  of  Pope:  "You  have 
written  a  very  pretty  book,  but  you  must  not  call  it  Homer,"  and  Mr. 
Gladstone's  translations  of  Homer  are  indications  of  how  a  generous, 
not  to  say  supreme,  imagination  may  amplify  even  upon  the  work  of  the 
blind  bard  "of  Scio's  rocky  isle,"  while,  because  of  the  defect  of  that 
same  imagination,  it  often  fails  to  completely  reproduce  the  truly 
Homeric  atmosphere. 

It  has  always  been  well-nigh  impossible  for  Mr.  Gladstone  to  do  the 
trifling  things  of  life  with  less  of  seriousness  and  strength  than  he  em- 
ploys in  the  performance  of  the  most  majestic  task.  He  was  not  heavy 
but  he  was  great,  yet  scarcely  great  enough  to  work  with  lightness 
and  delicacy.  Nothing  was  more  evident  in  his  recent  volume  of  trans- 
lations from  Horace  than  this;  that  the  lighter  effusions  of  the  Roman 
bard  were  simply  trampled  beneath  the  heavy  onset  of  Mr.  Gladstone's 
somewhat  unsympathetic  genius.  Horace,  perhaps,  was  too  trifling  and 
light-minded  to  be  truly  translated  by  a  great  English  statesman  resting 
upon  his  laurels  in  old  age.  Frolicsome  as  Mr.  Gladstone  has  been,  though 
he  has  declined  to  enter  his  second  childhood  and  thus  bear  witness  to 
the  truth  of  the  old  statement  "Twice  a  boy  and  once  a  man,"  he  failed 
in  this,  perhaps  because  he  was  entirely  unable  to  enter  into  the 
playful  moods  of  some  of  the  authors  whom  he  has  sought  to  translate, 
except  in  such  a  way  as  to  put  a  stop  to  the  humor  of  the  situation 
entirely.  The  lofty  and  massive  quality  of  his  mind  appeared  in  the 
book  of  translations  in  which  he  shared  authorship  with  his  friend 
Lord  Lyttleton.  But  while  this  is  to  be  said,  it  must  also  be  held  that 
there  are  few  who  have  ever  undertaken  translation  who  surpassed  Glad- 
stone when  he  had  to  deal  with  the  poetry  of  Greece  and  Rome  in  the 
higher  flights  of  song.  Quotation  has  often  been  made  of  the  descrip- 
tion of  the  Greeks  as  they  go  forth  to  war  in  the  fourth  book  of  the 
Iliad.  Here  Gladstone  chose  as  his  guide  the  Homer  of  English  prose 
and  poetry,  Sir  Walter  Scott,  and  these  are  some  of  the  lines: 


300  GLADSTONE:   A    BIOGRAPHICAL    STUDY. 

"As  when  the  billow  gathers  fast, 

With  slow  and  sullen  roar, 
Beneath  the  keen  north-western  blast 

Against  the  sounding  shore; 
First  far  at  sea  it  rears  its  crest, 

Then  bursts  upon  the  beach; 
Or  with  proud  arch  and  swelling  breast, 

Where  headlands  outward  reach, 
It  smites  their  strength,  and  bellowing  flings 

Its  silver  foam  afar; 
So,  stern  and  thick,  the  Danaan  kings 

And  soldiers  marched  to  war. 
Each  leader  gave  his  men  the  word, 
Each  warrior  deep  in  silence  heard; 
So  mute  they  marched,  thou  couldst  not  ken 
They  were  a  mass  of  speaking  men; 
And  as  they  strode  in  martial  might, 
Their  flickering  arms  shot  back  the  light." 

As  successful  as  Gladstone  was  in  such  passages,  the  rigor  and  stateli- 
ness  of  his  muse  made  it  impossible  for  him  to  handle  the  delicate 
tapestry  of  less  serious-minded  singers. 

There  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  enthusiasm  of  the  English  reading 
public  over  Mr.  Gladstone's  volumes  on  Homer  and  the  Homeric  Age 
began  to  decline  after  it  was  known  that,  marvelous  and  almost  un- 
matched as  were  Mr.  Gladstone's  genius  and  laboriousness,  neither  or 
both  of  these  could  invent  so  many  hours  or  supply  so  much  strength, 
outside  of  the  demands  which  a  great  statesman  had  placed  upon  him,  as 
to  give  him  the  right  to  stand  before  the  \vorld  as  both  the  first  of  Eng- 
lish statesmen  and  an  accurate  and  profound  Homeric  scholar.  Anybody 
knows  that  it  is  easier  to  write  a  long  book  containing  a  given  amount 
of  knowledge  and  philosophy  than  it  is  to  write  a  short  one.  When 
Mr.  Beecher  once  preached  an  hour  and  a  half  he  smilingly  said,  "If  I 
had  had  time  to  think  this  subject  up,  I  would  have  left  off  the  first 
hour  of  this  sermon."  Gladstone's  three  volumes  on  Homer  are  the 
witness  of  what  an  incalculably  large  draft  was  made  upon  a  first- 
class  intellect  by  the  exigencies  of  his  political  life.  It  left  him  no 


THK   SCHOLAR   AND   ORATOR.  201 

time  to  put  his  thought  briefly  and  clearly.  Every  page  has  its  charms 
and  no  chapter  is  to  be  read  without  gaining  the  enthusiasm  of  the 
author.  The  cleverness  of  the  treatise  was  surpassed  only  by  its  length. 
He  had  furnished  a  work  which  proved  to  scholars  what  a  mighty  man 
in  learning  he  might  have  been  if  he  had  had  the  time,  and  he  demon- 
strated to  statesmen  his  unrivaled  versatility.  As  we  look  upon  Mr. 
Gladstone's  Homeric  studies  from  this  later  date,  when  he  arises  before 
us  as  the  man  Dr.  Dollinger  has  called  the  greatest  theologian  of 
Europe,  we  cannot  help  thinking  of  the  remarkable  likeness  of  Glad- 
stone the  Homeric  scholar  and  Gladstone  the  Theologian.  He  may  see 
his  Moses  and  Isaiah  emerge  from  the  Higher  Criticism  as  did  his 
Homer.  In  the  latter  domain  as  well  as  in  the  former,  he  leaves  the  im- 
pression, even  after  his  greatest  work  is  done,  that  human  nature, 
after  all,  cannot  be  counted  upon  for  accuracy,  profundity  and  com- 
prehensiveness in  more  than  two  or  three  of  the  supreme  interests  of 
human  life.  The  atmosphere  of  plausibility  does  not  permanently  abide 
over  statements  which  can  not  stand  fire,  nor  do  even  the  merits  of  Mr. 
Gladstone's  work  in  both  these  domains  count  for  full  value  in  the 
neighborhood  of  the  fact  that  sometimes  he  carries  his  strife  for  an 
assumed  position  by  sheer  force  of  fascinating  speech,  rather  than  by 
the  power  of  coherent  argument.  The  presence  of  the  orator  with  his 
immeasurable  powers  of  persuasion,  glancing  from  his  face  or  flowing 
melodiously  from  his  lips,  has  much  to  do  with  gaining  the  day,  though 
one  may  be  a  little  conscious  that  the  whole  thing  has  been  accom^ 
plished  with  a  dexterity  and  ingenuity  almost  too  fascinating.  But  alac- 
rity in  passing  over  the  difficulties  of  a  case  with  facile  theorizing  which 
half  conceals  problems  as  dark  and  tortuous  as  they  are  hidden,  the 
light  handling  of  difficulties  in  the  presence  of  fancied  analogies  all  of 
which  would  surely  break  if  taken  in  a  vigorous  grasp — all  this  when 
put  into  print  furnishes  indubitable  evidence  either  of  unnecessary  haste 
in  the  writing  and  publication  or  of  great  desire  on  the  part  of  a  skillful 
orator  to  appear  as  great  a  writer  as  he  is  a  speaker.  Gladstone's  Homer 
was  full  of  observations  which  might  have  made  the  fortune  of  any  other 
literary  man  in  English  writing  on  the  subject.  In  the  glory  of  their 
philosophic  light,  however,  his  inaccuracies  stood  forth  badly,  and  fur- 


202  GLADSTONE:   A    BIOGRAPHICAL  STUDY. 

nished  the  students  of  historical  criticism  with  a  case  not  easy  to  forget. 

This  great  merit  of  the  books  can  never  be  forgotten.  England  saw 
the  scholarly  statesman  turning  the  eyes  of  Anglo-Saxon  literary  world 
again  to  a  vast  planet  in  the  sky.  Who  had  any  right  to  suppose  that 
Mr.  Gladstone  had  ever  gone  to  this  planet  and  stood  there  long  enough 
to  be  able  to  write  concerning  it,  microscopically?  His  superb  contribu- 
tion lay  in  the  fact  that  he,  as  almost  no  other  man  in  the  world,  could 
and  did  look  upon  this  matchless  star,  telescopically.  But  the  diffi- 
culty with  Mr.  Gladstone  was  he  had  made  such  an  exhibit  of  erudi- 
tion as  he  was  always  likely  to  do,  and  had  seen  so  many  little  things 
that  nobody  cared  to  attend  to,  that  the  things  of  medium  size  which 
were  of  importance  to  scholars  and  which  he  passed  over  or  misun- 
derstood greatly  perplexed  them.  Questions  as  to  when  writing  came 
into  Greece,  as  to  the  unity  of  Homer's  work  were  usually  referred  to 
the  greater  works  of  other  scholars,  but  Gladstone's  over-wordy  state- 
ment on  other  matters  unfortunately  invited  the  clear,  sharp  intellect  of 
Mr.  Grote  into  the  consideration  of  the  problem  and  the  result  was 
that  we  often  found  ourselves  preferring  the  terseness  and  completeness 
of  Grote's  description  to  his  own.  It  is  when  Mr.  Gladstone  deals  with 
the  Homeric  poems  as  compared  with  the  Hebrew  scriptures,  or  when 
analyzing  the  forces  which  have  gone  into  the  making  of  literature  in 
the  land  of  Pindar  and  Hesiod  that  we  find  ourselves  borne  along  by 
eloquence  as  faithful  to  the  facts  as  it  is  stirring  to  the  imagination. 

Whenever  he  touches  such  a  subject  as  Homer's  perception  and 
use  of  numbers  and  color,  all  the  best  qualities  of  Gladstone's  mind  are 
manifested.  We  can  see  here  the  great  intellect  luxuriating  playfully 
with  a  subject  precisely  to  his  fancy.  Hasty  he  may  be  in  many  of 
his  opinions  and  somewhat  disputatious  with  reference  to  some  of  his 
deductions,  but  the  Homer  of  Gladstone  is  a  distinct  gift,  large,  full- 
blooded,  harmonious,  awe-compelling,  and  that  he  has  left  the  world 
more  eager  than  ever  to  know  this  majestic  figure  is  proof  of  the 
majesty  and  charm  of  his  own  genius. 


CHAPTER  XXIII. 
CONTESTING   FOR   OXFORD. 

In  Gladstone's  struggle  to  hold  Oxford  as  his  constituency,  and  in 
the  attacks  made  upon  him  at  that  time,  may  be  read  perhaps  the 
most  interesting  chapter  in  his  career  as  a  contestant  for  honors,  where 
he  accepted  every  challenge,  and,  after  a  hard  battle,  won  glory  in 
defeat.  Toryism  presumed  to  lecture  him  in  its  reviews,  to  weep  over 
what  it  termed  his  moral  lapse  in  its  drawing-rooms,  to  execrate  him 
with  clumsy  abuse  in  its  newspapers.  Dryasdusts  emerging  from  the 
chambers  where  monasticism  had  given  a  peculiar  hue  to  their  thinking, 
wrote  to  the  great  reviews  and  made  exposition  elsewhere  of  the  terrors 
with  which  Oxford  again  confronted  the  possibility  that  so  dangerous 
a  man  should  represent  so  much  which  had  always  been  respectable, 
scholarly,  and  conservative.  Palmerston  had  once  advised  that  he.be 
kept  under  the  influence  of  Oxford,  for  he  would  be  controlled  in  no 
other  wise.  He  was  appealed  to  on  account  of  his  father,  and  was  re- 
minded from  what  a  consistent,  steady,  old-school  baronet  he  had 
sprung.  Contrasts  were  instituted  between  the  brilliant  and  recalcitrant 
orator  and  Mr.  Gladstone's  good,  Tory  brother,  to  whom  Sir  John 
Gladstone  had  bequeathed  his  estate  in  Forfarshire.  One  enthusiastic 
person  projected  the  plan  of  somehow  providing  William  E.  Gladstone 
with  sufficient  property,  in  the  hope  that  the  possession  of  an  estate 
like  his  brother's  might  give  him  some  like  sense  of  responsibility  and 
woo  him  back  to  the  Toryism  which  now  appeared  unsatisfactory  to 
him.  Reminiscences  were  produced  by  those  who  had  quarreled 
with  him  in  childhood  and  youth,  and,  of  course,  .these  reflecting  people 
remembered  nothing  except  his  stalwart  obstinacy  and  his  irritable 
temper,  and  especially  the  fact  that,  as  a  child,  he  would  not  play  much 
with  other  children,  but  ordered  them  about,  to  their  great  disgust. 
\Vriters  of  letters  to  local  papers  asserted  that  England  might  have  ex- 

203 


204  GLADSTONE:   A   BIOGRAPHICAL   STUDY. 

pected  as  much  from  him,  for  even  while  he  was  a  boy,  and  ought  to 
have  been  engaged  in  sport,  he  stubbornly  kept  reading  his  books, 
and  acquired  then  that  superiority  of  intelligence  and  unpleasant  seri- 
ousness of  mind  which,  in  spite  of  the  charms  of  the  Arabian  Nights, 
Plutarch's  Lives,  Walter  Scott's  tales,  Robinson  Crusoe,  and  the  stories 
of  Homer  and  Virgil,  led  him  into  the  study  of  Thucydides,  Cicero, 
Dante  and  Plato,  and  made  him  so  good  and  loquacious  an  historian 
that  nobody  else  wanted  to  talk  with  him. 

Other  critics  maintained  that  they  recollected  him  as  a  youth  so 
beset  with  the  habit  of  writing  poor  but  ambitious  verse  that  it  was 
impossible  to  expect  anything  else  than  a  most  fanciful  and  dreamy 
politician  out  of  it  all.  The  following  quotation  was  made  from  one  of 
his  early  attempts  at  poetizing: 

WAT    TYLER. 

"Shade  of  him  whose  valiant  tongue 
On  high  the  song  of  freedom  sung; 
Shade  of  him,  whose  mighty  soul 
Would  pay  no  taxes  on  his  poll; 
Though,  swift  as  lightning,  civic  sword 

Descended  on  thy  fated  head, 
The  blood  of  England's  boldest  poured, 

And  numbered  Tyler  with  the  dead! 

"Still  may  thy  spirit  flap  its  wings 
At  midnight  o'er  the  couch  of  kings; 
And  peer  and  prelate  tremble,  too, 
In  dread  of  nightly  interview! 
With  patriot  gesture  of  command, 

With  eyes  that  like  thy  forges  gleam, 
Lest  Tyler's  voice  and  Tyler's  hand 
Be  heard  and  seen  in  nightly  dream. 

"I  hymn  the  gallant  and  the  good 
From  Tyler  down  to  Thistlewood, 
My  muse  the  trophies  grateful  sings, 
The  deeds  of  Miller  and  of  Ings; 


CONTESTING    FOR   OXFORD.  205 

She  sings  of  all  who,  soon  or  late, 

Have  burst  Subjection's  iron  chain, 
Have  seal'd  the  bloody  despot's  fate 

Or  cleft  a  peer  or  priest  in  twain. 

"Shades,  that  soft  Sedition  woo, 
Around  the  haunts  of  Peterloo! 
That  hover  o'er  the  meeting-halls, 
Where  many  a  voice  stentorian  bawls! 
Still  flit  the  sacred  choir  around, 

With  'Freedom'  let  the  garrets  ring, 
And  vengeance  soon  in  thunder  sound 
On  Church,  and  constable,  and  king." 

And  men  went  about  believing  that  this  boy's  ironical  production 
was  the  first  fruits  of  his  extreme  liberalism! 

One  grave  gentleman  insisted  that  he  was  the  victim,  in  early  life, 
of  what  has  been  called  the  "fatal  facility  for  extemporaneous  utter- 
ance;" that  oftentimes  Gladstone  found  it  impossible  to  satisfy  his  love 
of  contention  unless  he  were  to  take  the  wrong  side  of  the  question, 
which  he  promptly  did,  and  that  his  superlative  talents  so  irradiated  and 
bewildered  him  that  at  last  he  convinced  himself  that  he  was  on  the 
right  side,  and  he  stayed  there,  with  a  pertinacity  and  doggedness  un- 
equaled  except  in  the  last  session  of  Parliament.  Oxford  could  scarce 
endure  this. 

It  was  a  signal  opportunity  for  Gladstone's  critics  to  find  the  root 
of  everything  which  they  now  disliked  in  him,  in  some  anecdote  relating 
somewhat  of  his  past.  Boys  who  had  known  him  at  Eton,  and  were 
not  so  strenuous  as  he,  now  rose  to  remark  that  he  never  was  popular, 
but  was  cold  and  haughty,  and  yet  he  was  smart  enough  to  keep  out 
of  scrapes,  and  politic  enough  to  be  on  the  winning  side,  so  that  even 
then  he  was  called  "Popular  Billy."  No  one  dreamed  in  the  confusion 
that  the  case  against  him  had  suffered  from  too  much  proof.  It  was 
the  common  complaint  of  these  critics  who  were  intent  upon  his  de- 
feat, that  he  had  always  been  the  dupe  of  his  own  impulsiveness  of  dis- 
position, which  led  him  into  committing  himself  before  he  knew  what 
he  was  about,  and,  possessing  abnormally  high  self-respect,  not  to 


206  GLADSTONE:   A   BIOGRAPHICAL   STUDY. 

say  egotism,  he  never  could  be  persuaded  to  abandon  his  false  posi- 
tion. He  could  extricate  himself  from  apparently  hopeless  dilemmas, 
and  meet  with  adroitness  his  own  mistakes;  and  all  this  had  developed 
within  him,  they  said,  a  tendency  which  Oxford  never  in  the  world 
might  suffer  longer,  namely,  a  bent  of  mind  and  a  desire  to  argue  elo- 
quently, even  against  his  own  reason  and  conscience,  rather  than  give 
up  a  proposition  which  in  his  haste  and  conceit  he  had  adopted.  Little 
did  Oxford  think  that  the  thing  objected  to,  so  constantly  misappre- 
hended, was  really  a  current  of  Gladstone's  mind  revealing  the  fact  that 
he  was  at  last  escaping  the  dogmatism  and  scholasticism  of  his  old  Uni- 
versity. 

It  was  impossible,  even  in  1865,  for  these  foes  to  forget  that  Glad- 
stone had  been  an  excellent  churchman,  and  that  he  had  written  a 
book  which  left  no  ground  visible  for  a  Dissenter  or  even  an  unctions 
Evangelical  churchman  to  stand  on.  Church  Toryism  took  to  itself 
with  singular  affectionateness  this  part  of  Gladstone  which  had  in- 
sisted that  one  religious  denomination  could  never  be  as  good  as 
another.  It  was  very  amusing  to  hear  Church  Toryism  produce  its 
lament  that  a  young  and  brilliant  statesman  such  as  Gladstone,  who 
had  been  a  regular  attendant  at  St.  Mary's,  Oxford,  when  John  Henry 
Newman  exercised  his  indescribable  charm  over  the  young  auditors, 
and  yet  had  not  taken  them  all  to  the  Church  of  Rome,  should  not  have 
contented  himself  with  a  statesmanship  which  would  have  left  him  still 
a  churchman  as  learned  and  redoubtable  as  Keble  and  as  conservative 
as  an  Oxford  don.  That  this  same  Gladstone  had  nevertheless  ap- 
peared happy  that  the  Reform  Bill  had  swept  away  so  many  landmarks, 
so-called,  that  he  rejoiced  that  the  ten-pounds  householders  had  a 
representative  in  the  House  of  Commons,  and  that  there  were  yet  other 
things  he  might  help  to  do  in  the  same  direction  before  the  Government 
of  England  would  appear  perfect  to  him — this  was  incredibly  bad. 
Mourners  went  about  the  streets  reflecting  that,  if  Gladstone  had  never 
come  under  the  milder  political  sophistry  of  Sir  Robert  Peel,  he  might 
not  have  developed  such  a  skill  in  manipulation,  such  prodigious  powers 
of  refining  and  making  distinctions  through  which  Toryism  was  con- 
stantly escaping,  as  now  confounded  them,  and  that  he  never  would 


CONTESTING   FOR   OXFORD.  207 

have  dazzled  plain  people  by  the  finesse  with  which  he  attained  his 
purposes. 

Unquestionably,  Gladstone  had  behind  him  a  record  which  gave 
great  pain  to  the  straightforward  disciples  of  Toryism.  His  foes  could 
not  forget  that  Mr.  Gladstone's  speech  on  Lord  John  Russell's  motion 
for  applying  the  surplus  revenues  of  the  Irish  Church  to  secular  pur- 
poses had  compelled  the  Earl  of  Derby  to  pronounce  him  the  most  elo- 
quent young  man  he  had  heard  since  the  beginning  of  his  own  long 
public  life.  Neither  could  Toryism  forget  that  Gladstone  had  shown  a 
business  ability  and  a  power  for  handling  and  solving  financial  problems, 
a  master  of  the  art  of  lucid  exposition  equaled  but  not  surpassed  by  the 
younger  Pitt;  besides  all  this,  he  had  the  force  of  stainless  personal 
character;  but  lo!  these  energies  had  gone  with  his  dreadful  aspiration 
to  think  for  himself  and  to  act  for  himself,  thus,  as  one  Tory  general 
said,  making  it  certain  that  he  was  "to  mar  a  genius  otherwise  so  bril- 
liant and  to  detract  from  the  value  of  a  reputation  so  important  to  the 
party."  "Party,"  indeed! — Gladstone  has  made  partyism  (as  opposed 
to  patriotism)  as  ridiculous  as  it  is  abominable.  Oxford  had  noticed 
pretty  carefully  that  Gladstone  had  not  been  as  violent  as  his  consti- 
tutionally bad  temper  ought  really  to  have  made  him  against  such 
propositions  as  Duncombe's  in  1840,  "to  bring  in  a  Bill  for  exempting 
Dissenters,  on  certain  conditions,  from  the  payment  of  Church  rates." 
Since  that  time  Gladstone's  sentimentalism  in  the  direction  of  the  wick- 
ed Non-Conformists  has  often  horrified  the  guardians  of  the  Ark  of 
the  Lord  in  England.  Gladstone  had  even  been  caught  coquetting 
with  other  Liberal  notions.  It  is  true  he  had  so  labored  to  change  the 
commercial  system  of  Great  Britain  as  to  make  England  solvent,  but 
he  was  accused  of  unseemly  vanify  about  his  efforts,  even  in  the  pres- 
ence of  Sir  Robert  Peel,  who  had  been  chief  in  the  pilot-house  while  the 
ship  was  thus  taking  its  course.  He  had  not,  another  observed,  im- 
proved in  the  quality  of  his  Toryism,  but  he  had  become  more  adroit 
and  tumultuous  in  battle. 

The  opposition  to  him  became  positively  humorous.  His  church- 
manship,  which  had  been  once  held  to  be  more  exacting  and  upright 


208  GLADSTONE:   A   BIOGRAPHICAL   STUDY. 

than  that  of  Mr.  Keble,  was  hotly  attacked  from  another  point  of  view, 
and  the  Oxford  dons  revolted  at  the  assertion : 

"For  the  last  thirty  years  I  have  not  been  able  to  trace  any  danger 
to  the  Church  of  England  arising  from  the  political  acts  of  Dissenters." 

Every  delicate  ecclesiastical  sensibility  was  shocked.  The  Book  of 
Common  Prayer  might  as  well  have  been  burned  before  their  eyes. 
Besides  all  this,  there  had  recently  been  some  significant  strikes  upon 
the  part  of  the  laboring  men,  and  Gladstone,  who  had  been  favorable 
to  the  extension  of  the  Franchise,  had  not  called  them  rascals, — the 
word  "anarchists"  had  not  then  come  into  use — and  he  had  further 
offended  their  perfumed  respectability  by  recognizing  Garibaldi  and 
bringing  himself  into  disrepute  with  people  who  could  not  understand 
the  valor  of  the  red-shirted  hero. 

Oxford  had  noted  that  Gladstone  was  speaking  in  South  Lancashire, 
and  Oxford  insisted  that  this  meant  that  Gladstone  understood  how 
unsatisfactory  he  must  be  to  a  cultivated  community.  It  was  only 
necessary  for  Oxford  to  reprint  and  circulate  his  speech  at  Bolton,  in 
order  to  properly  guard  its  refinement  against  the  danger  of  voting  for 
Gladstone. 

If  this  had  been  all,  some  might  have  lapsed  so  far  as  to  forgive  him, 
but,  just  at  the  moment  when  he  was  intimating  that  there  were  times 
\vhen  a  statesman  became  over-lively  in  his  urging  reforms,  he  said  to 
the  workingmen  of  Manchester: 

"Gentlemen,  permit  me  to  express  a  hope  that  this  great  commu- 
nity will  be  upon  its  guard  against  what  I  may  call  the  principle  of 
political  lethargy.  That  is  not  a  sound  or  a  healthy  principle.  There 
are  times  when  I  apprehend  it  would  be  the  duty  of  any  public  man,  in 
addressing  a  public  assembly,  to  endeavor  to  moderate  what  might  seem 
to  him  over-liveliness  and  excessive  eagerness,  even  in  the  work  of 
reform  and  improvement.  But  the  time  in  which  we  live  is  not  a  time 
of  that  character;  it  is  rather  a  time  in  which  it  is  becoming  we  should 
recall  to  our  recollection,  that  although  so  much  has  been  done,  and 
well  done,  to  the  honor  of  all  parties  concerned  in  this  country  during 
the  last  thirty  years,  yet  it  behooves  us  to  continue  cautiously,  steadily, 
and  justly  but  firmly,  to  continue  in  the  same  career.  We  cannot  look 


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THE  EARL  OF  DERBY 

i 


CONTESTING   FOR   OXFORD.  209 

abroad  over  the  face  of  our  country  without  feeling  that  there  is  much 
that  we  have  yet  to  desire.  We  cannot  look  across  the  channel  to  Ire- 
land, and  especially  to  the  state  of  feeling  in  Ireland,  and  say  that  that 
state  of  feeling  taken  as  a  whole,  is  becoming  for  the  honor  and  for  the 
advantage  of  the  United  Kingdom.  We  cannot  look  upon  our  brethren 
and  our  fellow-subjects  there  without  heartily  wishing  that  they  were 
more  entirely  united  with  us.  We  cannot  say  that  their  duty  to  the  peo- 
ple has  been  discharged.  I  do  not  say  that  Parliament  is  to  blame.  I 
contend,  indeed,  that  Parliament  is  the  faithful  steward  of  the  powers 
which  it  has  received.  It  is  governed  by  an  enlightened  desire  to  pro- 
mote the  interests  of  the  entire  community.  But  that  Parliament  has 
more  than  once  heard  an  expression  of  the  desire  that  some  extension 
should  take  place  in  the  direct  action  of  the  people  in  the  choice  of  its 
representatives.  (Cheers.)  There  cannot,  I  think,  be  a  doubt  that, 
whenever  the  state  of  public  feeling  shall  have  matured  for  the  satis- 
factory entertaining  of  that  question,  one  of  the  great  demonstrative 
facts  of  the  moral  claim  of  the  people  to  have  some  extension  of  the 
franchise  will  rest  with  the  conduct  of  the  population  of  Lancashire 
during  the  distress  of  the  last  few  years." 

Surely  even  the  impetuous  and  wily  Gladstone  could  not  be  allowed 
by  Oxford  to  go  further.  He  went  to  Liverpool,  and  there,  in  spite  of 
the  recollection  of  his  Tory  father,  and  his  lively  consideration  of  the 
fact  that  the  merchants  of  Liverpool  were  quite  proud  of  him,  and  he 
was  anxious  to  retain  the  honor  they  did  him,  he  spoke  freely  with  ref- 
erence to  the  duty  on  corn  and  the  further  application  of  the  principles 
he  had  espoused. 

South  Lancashire  was  vulgar  and  sooty  and  uncultured; — Oxford 
was  about  to  say  to  Mr.  Gladstone  that  he  belonged  to  that  sort  of 
people.  After  Oxford  had  washed  the  hands  of  the  aristocracy  from 
previously-acquired  defilement,  and  Gladstone  was  no  longer  her  rep- 
resentative at  Westminster,  with  the  attention  of  England  directed  to 
him,  as  he  might  have  desired,  he  gave  a  farewell  address.  He  said, 
speaking  to  a  vast  audience  in  Manchester: 

"After  an  anxious  struggle  of  eighteen  years,  during  which  the  un- 
bounded devotion  and  indulgence  of  my  friends  maintained  me  in  the 
14 


210  GLADSTONE:   A   BIOGRAPHICAL   STUDY. 

arduous  position  of  representative  of  the  University  of  Oxford,  I  have 
been  driven  from  my  seat.  ...  I  have  loved  the  University  with 
a  deep  and  passionate  love,  and  as  long  as  I  breathe  that  attachment 
will  continue;  if  my  affection  is  of  the  smallest  advantage  to  that  great, 
that  ancient,  that  noble  institution,  that  advantage,  such  as  it  is,  and  it 
is  most  insignificant,  Oxford  will  possess  as  long  as  I  live.  But  don't 
mistake  the  issue  which  has  been  raised.  The  University  has  at  length, 
after  eighteen  years  of  self-denial,  been  drawn  by  what  I  might,  per- 
haps, call  an  overweening  exercise  of  power,  into  the  vortex  of  mere 
politics.  Well,  you  will  readily  understand  why,  as  long  as  I  had  a  hope 
that  the  zeal  and  kindness  of  my  friends  might  keep  me  in  my  place,  it 
was  not  possible  for  me  to  abandon  them.  Could  they  have  returned  me 
iby  a  majority  of  one,  painful  as  it  is  to  a  man  at  my  time  of  life,  and 
feeling  the  weight  of  public  cares,  to  be  incessantly  struggling  for  his 
seat,  nothing  could  have  induced  me  to  quit  that  University  to  which 
I  had  so  long  ago  devoted  my  best  care  and  attachment.  But  by  no 
act  of  my  own  am  I  free  to  come  among  you.  And  having  been  thus 
set  free,  I  need  hardly  tell  you  that  it  is  with  joy,  with  thankfulness, 
and  enthusiasm,  that  I  now,  at  this  eleventh  hour,  a  candidate  without 
an  address,  make  my  appeal  to  the  heart  and  the  mind  of  South  Lanca- 
shire, and  ask  you  to  pronounce  upon  that  appeal.  As  I  have  said,  I  am  • 
aware  of  no  cause  for  the  votes  which  have  given  a  majority  against 
me  in  the  University  of  Oxford,  except  the  fact  that  the  strongest  con- 
viction that  the  human  mind  can  receive,  that  an  overpowering  sense 
of  the  public  interests,  that  the  practical  teachings  of  experience,  to 
which  from  my  youth  Oxford  herself  taught  me  to  lay  open  my  mind 
— all  these  had  shown  me  the  folly,  and,  I  will  say,  the  madness  of  re- 
fusing to  join  in  the  generous  sympathies  of  my  countrymen,  by 
adopting  what  I  must  call  an  obstructive  policy:" 

He  added: 

"Without  entering  into  details,  without  unrolling  the  long  record  of 
all  the  great  measures  that  have  been  passed — the  emancipation  of 
Roman  Catholics;  the  removal  of  tests  from  Dissenters;  the  emancipa- 
tion of  the  slaves;  the  reformation  of  the  Poor  Law;  the  reformation — 
I  had  almost  said  the  destruction,  but  it  is  the  reformation — of  the  tariff; 


CONTESTING   FOR   OXFORD.  21 1 

the  abolition  of  the  Corn  Laws;  the  abolition  of  the  Navigation  Laws; 
the  conclusion  of  the  French  treaty;  the  laws  which  have  relieved  Dis- 
senters from  stigma  and  almost  ignominy,  and  which  in  doing  so  have 
not  weakened,  but  have  strengthened,  the  Church  to  which  I  belong  — 
all  these  great  acts,  accomplished  with  the  same,  I  had  almost  said  su- 
blime, tranquillity  of  the  whole  country  as  that  with  which  your  own 
vast  machinery  performs  its  appointed  task,  as  it  were  in  perfect  re- 
pose— all  these  things  have  been  done.  You  have  seen  the  acts.  You 
have  seen  the  fruits.  It  is  natural  to  enquire  who  have  been  the  doers. 
In  a  very  humble  measure,  but  yet  according  to  the  degree  and  capacity 
of  the  powers  which  Providence  has  bestowed  upon  me,  I  have  been  de- 
sirous not  to  obstruct  but  to  promote  and  assist  this  beneficent  and 
blessed  process.  And  if  I  entered  Parliament,  as  I  did  enter  Parlia- 
ment, with  a  warm  and  anxious  desire  to  maintain  the  institutions  of 
my  country,  I  can  truly  say  that  there  is  no  period  of  my  life  during 
which  my  conscience  is  so  clear,  and  renders  me  so  good  an  answer,  as 
those  years  in  which  I  have  co-operated  in  the  promotion  of  Liberal 
measures.  .  .  .  Because  they  are  Liberal,  they  are  the  true  meas- 
ures, and  indicate  the  true  policy  by  which  the  country  is  made  strong 
and  its  institutions  preserved." 

Lord  Palmerston,  whose  life  had  now  closed  in  petulance  and  faith- 
lessness, had  said  of  Gladstone:  "He  is  a  dangerous  man.  Keep  him 
in  Oxford,  and  he  is  partially  muzzled;  but  send  him  elsewhere,  and 
he  will  run  wild."  Now  at  Liverpool,  his  old  home,  the  unmuzzled  man 
spoke,  in  part,  as  follows: 

"During  eighteen  years  I  have  been  the  representative  of  Oxford. 
It  has  been  my  duty  in  her  name  to  deal  with  all  those  questions  bearing 
upon  the  relations  of  Religion  and  Education  to  the  State,  which  this 
critical  period  has  brought  to  the  surface.  Long  has  she  borne  with  me; 
long,  in  spite  of  active  opposition,  did  she  resist  every  effort  to  displace 
me.  At  last  she  has  changed  her  mind.  God  grant  it  may  be  well  with 
her;  but  the  recollection  of  her  confidence  which  I  had  so  long  enjoyed, 
and  of  the  many  years  I  have  spent  in  her  service,  never  can  depart  from 
me;  and  if  now  I  appear  before  you  in  a  different  position,  I  do  not 
appear  as  another  man.  ...  If  the  future  of  the  University  is  to 


212  GLADSTONE:   A   BIOGRAPHICAL   STUDY. 

be  as  glorious  as  her  past,  the  result  must  be  brought  about  by  enlarg- 
ing her  borders,  by  opening  her  doors,  by  invigorating  her  powers,  by 
endeavoring  to  rise  to  the  heights  of  that  vocation  with  which,  I  be- 
lieve, it  has  pleased  the  Almighty  to  endow  her.  I  see  represented  in 
that  ancient  institution  the  most  prominent  features  that  relate  to  the 
past  of  England.  I  come  into  South  Lancashire,  and  find  here  around 
me  an  assemblage  of  different  phenomena.  I  find  the  development  of 
industry.  I  find  the  growth  of  enterprise.  I  find  the  progress  of  social 
philanthropy.  I  find  the  prevalence  of  toleration.  I  find  an  ardent  de- 
sire for  freedom.  .  .  . 

"If  there  be  one  duty  more  than  another  incumbent  upon  the  public 
men  of  England,  it  is  to  establish  and  maintain  harmony  between  the 
past  of  our  glorious  history  and  the  future  which  is  still  in  store  for  her. 
.  .  .  I  am  if  possible  more  firmly  attached  to  the  institutions  of  my 
country  than  I  was  when,  a  boy,  I  wandered  among  the  sand-hills  of 
Seaforth.  But  experience  has  brought  with  it  its  lessons.  I  have 
learned  that  there  is  wisdom  in  a  policy  of  trust,  and  folly  in  a  policy  of 
mistrust.  I  have  observed  the  effect  which  has  been  produced  by  Lib- 
eral legislation;  and  if  we  are  told  that  the  feeling  of  the  country  is  in 
the  best  and  broadest  sense  Conservative,  honesty  compels  us  to  admit 
that  that  result  has  been  brought  about  by  Liberal  legislation." 

South  Lancashire  adopted  the  stone  whom  the  Oxford  builders  re- 
jected at  the  very  time  when  panic-stricken  men,  such  as  Lord  Shaftes- 
bury,  were  blind  to  the  cynicism  and  antediluvianism  of  even  as  strong  a 
personality  as  Lord  Palmerston.  "Lord  Palmerston,"  said  Lord  Shaftes- 
bury,  lamentingly,  "is  the  only  true  Englishman  left  us  in  public  life." 
It  was  a  sad  time,  indeed,  except  for  prophetic  souls. 

He  desired  to  rest,  but  England  would  not  hear  his  plea. 


CHAPTER  XXIV. 
LEADER  OF  THE  HOUSE  OF  COMMONS. 

February  6,  1866,  found  the  new  Parliament  opened  in  a  manner 
befitting  the  sad  event  which  had  left  the  Queen  of  England  a  widow 
and  the  nation  mourning  for  the  Prince  Consort.  Matters  were  not 
minced  in  the  announcement  that  Parliament  would  be  expected  to  deal 
with  the  Reform  Bill.  The  speech  from  the  Throne  contemplated  ac- 
tion in  the  direction  of  a  broadening  of  the  Elective  Franchise.  Four 
hundred  thousand  voters  were  to  be  added,  and  thus  a  larger  suffrage 
was  to  be  introduced;  all  adult  males,  who,  in  two  years  had  deposited 
fifty  pounds  in  a  savings  bank,  could  register;  compound  householders 
were  to  stand  in  a  position  relatively  equal  to  that  of  the  rate-payers;  the 
clauses  of  the  Reform  Act  were  to  be  abolished,  admitting  voters  above 
the  line  of  ten  pounds;  and  the  Occupation  Franchise  was  to  include 
houses  at  fourteen  pounds  rental  and  attain  as  high  as  fifty  pounds. 

Every  thoughtful  man  in  England  watched  Gladstone's  appearance 
with  interest  as  the  leader  of  the  House  of  Commons.  He  had  been 
splendidly  trained  in  the  past,  and  his  cause  was  now  finely  reinforced  by 
excellent  men  who  would  stand  by  his  side.  Gladstone  was  in  his  best 
form.  He  stood  in  his  own  manly  strength, 

"A  pillar  of  state ;  deep  on  his  front  engraven 
Deliberation  sat  and  public  care; 
With  Atlantean  shoulders  fit  to  bear 
The  weight  of  mightiest  monarchies." 

He  spoke  with  impassioned  strength  on  the  Reform  Bill  before  the 
House: 

"We  cannot  consent  to  look  upon  this  large  addition,  considerable 
although  it  may  be,  to  the  political  power  of  the  working  classes  of  this 
country,  as  if  it  were  an  addition  fraught  with  mischief  and  with  danger. 
We  cannot  look,  and  we  hope  no  man  will  look,  upon  it  as  some  Trojan 
liorse  approaching  the  walls  of  the  sacred  city,  and  filled  with  armed 

213 


214  GLADSTONE:  A   BIOGRAPHICAL   STUDY. 

men,  bent  upon  ruin,  plunder,  and  conflagration.  We  cannot  join  in 
comparing  it  with  that  monstrum  infelix — we  cannot  say: 

" Scandit  fatalis  machina  muros, 

Foeta  armis:  mediaeque  minans  illabitur  urbi." 

I  believe  that  those  persons  whom  we  ask  you  to  enfranchise  ought 
rather  to  be  welcomed  as  you  would  welcome  recruits  to  your  army, 
or  children  to  your  family.  We  ask  you  to  give  within  what  you  con- 
sider to  be  the  just  limits  of  prudence  and  circumspection;  but,  having 
once  determined  those  limits,  to  give  with  an  ungrudging  hand.  Con- 
sider what  you  can  safely  and  justly  afford  to  do  in  admitting  new  sub- 
jects and  citizens  within  the  pale  of  the  Parliamentary  constitution;  and, 
having  so  considered  it,  do  not,  I  beseech  you,  perform  the  act  as  if 
you  were  compounding  with  danger  and  misfortune.  Do  it  as  if  you 
were  conferring  a  boon  that  will  be  felt  and  reciprocated  in  grateful  at- 
tachment. Give  to  these  persons  new  interests  in  the  constitution,  new 
interests  which,  by  the  beneficent  processes  of  the  law  of  nature  and  of 
Providence,  shall  beget  in  them  new  attachment;  for  the  attachment  of 
the  people  to  the  Throne,  the  institutions,  and  the  laws  under  which  they 
live  is,  after  all,  more  than  gold  and  silver,  or  more  than  fleets  and 
armies,  at  onqe  the  strength,  the  glory,  and  the  safety  of  the  land." 

Gladstone  was  tenderly  regardful  of  his  personal  obligations  to  his 
friends,  and  his  love  for  Sir  Robert  Peel  always  commanded  his  chival- 
rous speech.  While  he  never  made  much  of  a  figure  in  the  world  of  fash- 
ion, Gladstone  took  it  suddenly  by  storm  in  the  year  1866,  by  appearing 
at  the  christening  of  Sir  Robert  Peel's  descendant — an  event  which  as- 
sembled the  rank  and  fashion  of  the  metropolis.  Gladstone  made  a 
speech  which  produced  a  profound  impression.  It  was  his  to  propose  the 
health  of  the  infant,  and  some  of  his  rotund  and  graceful  sentences  the 
audience  had  a  right  to  expect.  But  he  struck  out  into  a  new  line  for 
himself  and  for  his  audience,  and  thereby  captivated  fashionable  Lon- 
don. The  speech,  it  was  said,  "set  two  colonels  crying,  and  disturbed 
the  equanimity  of  a  brace  of  bishops."  It  was  chronicled  by  an  observer 
of  note,  in  March,  1866,  that  this  orator  had  begun  to  speak  with  a  cer- 
tain air  of  command,  and  that  so  imperious  and  yet  fascinating  was  his 
manner  that  it  seemed  perfectly  right  for  such  men  as  Sir  George  Grey, 


LEADER  OF  THE  HOUSE  OF  COMMONS.  215 

John  Stuart  Mill  and  John  Bright,  to  be  dominated  as  well  as  charmed 
by  him. 

In  this  session  John  Stuart  Mill  had,  no  doubt,  his  greatest  influence 
upon  the  thought  and  tone  of  Mr.  Gladstone.  Up  to  this  date,  Mill  was 
thought  an  indifferent  speaker,  because  he  was  a  philosopher;  and  it  was 
usually  arranged,  at  least  at  the  first,  that  he  should  be  through  his 
speaking  before  Gladstone  arose.  Mill's  was  a  unique  service  in  that 
body  of  legislators  which  has  been  spoken  of  as  possessing  "all  the  vices 
of  a  mob,  with  none  of  its  virtues."  Nobody  had  any  doubt  that  he  was 
the  greatest  authority  in  England  on  logic  and  political  economy.  Now 
he  was  to  shine  as  a  persuasive  speaker.  At  sixty  years  of  age  he  won 
a  distinct  triumph  in  the  annals  of  British  speech,  and  no  one  was  more 
happy  than  Gladstone  himself  in  the  unmistakable  victory  accredited  to 
this  scholar  and  philosopher.  It  was  needful  that  the  Liberal  party  at 
that  time,  having  use  for  Gladstone  in  other  parts  of  the  field,  should 
enlist  in  the  advocacy  of  its  opinions  some  one  whose  personal  character 
and  abundant  information  might  unite  with  powers  of  persuasion,  to 
place  before  the  House  of  Commons  the  Liberal  view  of  such  subjects 
as  were  involved  in  the  question,  for  example,  whether  "the  redundancy 
of  revenue  should  be  applied,  not  to  the  remission  of  the  Malt  Tax,  but 
to  a  payment  of  the  national  debt."  Mr.  Mill  had  been  serious  in  study- 
ing the  House  of  Commons  from  the  opening  of  the  session.  The  peri- 
patetics of  that  body  went  flitting  about  in  the  lobbies  or  lounging  in 
the  refreshment  rooms — in  short,  doing  anything  and  everything  to 
escape  the  dullness  of  a  tedious  debate;  but  Gladstone  and  Mill  might 
always  be  found  present  and  patient  in  listening  10  the  dieaiicst  of  Far- 
licuucntai^  buiv-o.  Mill  haa  a.h  cacly  attracted  the  attention  of  the  think- 
ers in  the  Assembly.  His  voice  was  feeble  and  somewhat  uninteresting 
in  the  quality  of  its  tone,  his  figure  slight  and  delicate,  appearing  small 
enough  in  comparison  with  the  hearty  John  Bright,  who  sat  in  front  of 
him  at  the  upper  end  of  one  of  the  Independent  Liberal  benches,  and  ap- 
pearing very  ungraceful,  also,  in  comparison  with  the  lithe  and  upright 
form  of  Mr.  Gladstone.  Yet  Mill's  face  was  exceedingly  sensitive,  and 
it  always  glowed  with  the  indwelling  intellectual  force  with  which  his 
whole  personality  was  surcharged;  and,  at  once,  the  House  of  Commons 


216  GLADSTONE:   A   BIOGRAPHICAL   STUDY. 

saw  a  man  thinking  keenly  and  deeply  on  his  feet,  and  evidently  putting 
the  reasoning  of  the  moment  into  words  as  inevitable  as  the  thought  it- 
self. His  own  book  on  Political  Economy  was  as  much  on  trial  as 
Gladstone's  book  on  Church  and  State  had  ever  been  on  trial  in  other 
quarters. 

Mill  had  attracted  the  lance  of  Mr.  Robert  Lowe,  and  a  finer  play  of 
swords  in  the  British  intellectual  arena  had  not  been  seen  for  a  long 
time.  Mr.  Lowe  met  a  foeman  worthy  of  his  steel,  and  by  his  own  dex- 
terity and  the  fierceness  of  his  thrust  in  the  onset,  he  simply  proved  that 
his  antagonist,  John  Stuart  Mill,  had  brought  unsurpassed  intellectual 
skill  to  the  House  of  Commons.  The  debate  on  the  Revenue  and  the 
National  Debt  was  wearisome  in  the  extreme,  until  Mill  rose  to  de- 
fend the  position  he  had  taken  that  an  effort  be  made  by  this  tax  to  re- 
duce the  National  Debt.  He  lacked  the  mental  excitement  which  the 
presence  of  Bright,  Lord  Stanley  and  Disraeli  might  have  given  him. 
Gladstone  and  Bulwer-Lytton  had  been  long  before  wearied  out,  and 
they  seemed  to  vie  with  each  other  in  gymnastics,  one  of  them  "unfold- 
ing a  greater  variety  of  sprawling  postures  than  anyone  would  suppose 
the  human  form,  even  of  an  acrobat  or  a  financier,  capable  of  assuming;" 
the  other  an  eminent  man  "whose  long,  meager,  uncouth  form  had 
writhed  and  twisted  impatiently  upon  his  seat,"  and  who,  upon  the  ap- 
pearance of  Mr.  Mill,  "bent  far  forward  with  his  chin  in  his  left  hand 
and  the  elbow  resting  on  his  knee,  while  his  eyes  glared  intently  from 
beneath  the  shadow  of  his  broad-brimmed  hat."  These,  with  perhaps 
seventy  men  of  indifferent  standing,  had  remained  when  Mill  began  to 
speak.  There  could  be  no  doubt  of  the  magic  of  the  spell  he  exercised. 
The  whole  subject  was  illuminated  by  a  man  of  eenius,  not  rhetorical, 
far  from  verbose,  but  fluent  and  sincere  and  resistless  by  the  clear  force 
of  his  compact  thinking  and  classic  utterance.  It  was  an  hour  before  he 
concluded  his  peroration.  Mr.  Gladstone  was  the  most  delighted  man 
in  England. 

He  had  already  adopted  into  such  friendship  as  ideas  alone  may 
make  immortally  powerful,  this  timid  scholar,  whose  gentle  and  unas- 
suming oratory,  carrying  superlative  wisdom,  had  placed  him  in  the 
front  rank  of  the  really  effective  speakers  of  England. 


LEADER  OF  THE  HOUSE  OF  COMMONS.  217 

It  was  Gladstone's  characteristic  that  he  drew  from  every  such  man 
his  highest  and  best  contribution  for  the  general  cause  of  Liberal  states- 
manship. Differ  as  Bright  and  Mill  might  from  Gladstone,  he  taxed 
their  utmost  powers  and  obtained  their  richest  devotion  to  a  cause  more 
important  than  their  differences.  Mr.  Gladstone  was  in  the  midst  of 
the  fight  for  reform.  "Society,"  which  John  Stuart  Mill  and  such  men 
had  despised,  was  against  the  Bill.  Gladstone  himself  had  spoken,  both 
at  Liverpool  and  at  Manchester,  and  it  was  still  a  question  as  to  what 
England  meant  to  do.  Gladstone  doubted  if  the  agitation  for  the  meas- 
ure had  been  strong  enough  and  long  and  widespread  enough.  Brook- 
ing no  antagonism,  he  had  startled  the  House  of  Commons  by  turning 
around  upon  his  antagonists  and  hurling  upon  them  his  scorn  at  their 
horror  of  admitting  the  workingman  to  the  Franchise,  as  if  they  wrere 
foreign  foes  instead  of  being,  as  he  said,  "our  fellow  subjects,  our  fellow 
Christians,  our  own  flesh  and  blood."  In  the  swiftness  and  breadth  of  his 
eloquence,  his  auditors  almost  forgot  whether  they  were  to  vote  on  this 
particular  Bill,  or  on  the  broader  question  as  to  the  right  of  the  working 
classes  to  exercise  their  share  of  electoral  strength.  The  Liberal  party 
kindled  under  the  influence  of  his  speech,  and  even  those  who  were  dis- 
posed to  rebel  against  the  imperiousness  of  Gladstone,  concluded  to  put 
off  deserting  the  cause  until  they  heard  from  the  country.  Everybody 
began  to  say  that  it  was  "the  citizen  against  the  aristocrat."  Bright 
shared  with  Gladstone  the  labor  and  honor  of  addressing  monster  meet- 
ings in  Lancashire.  When  Gladstone  was  badgered  by  those  who  said 
he  had  not  been  able  to  state  openly  what  it  was  hoped  to  effect  by  a 
more  democratic  Parliament,  he  stood  upon  his  dignity,  and  hurled  back 
the  charges  of  indecision  with  as  much  success,  and  with  more  reason, 
than  Disraeli  could  hurl  back  the  charges  of  his  foes  by  his  old  tone  of 
insolent  triumph.  No  doubt  the  Liberal  party,  as  a  party,  was  weaker 
than  Mr.  Gladstone,  because  Liberalism  at  that  time  was  very  anxious 
to  prove  that  it  never  could  become  very  democratic.  The  truth  is  that 
it  took  a  long  while  for  Gladstone  and  his  Liberal  friends  to  realize  that 
in  their  sympathy  with  the  South  in  the  Civil  War  in  the  United  States, 
they  had  stabbed  their  own  cause  in  England.  They  had  been  shout- 
ing that  democratic  institutions  would  go  to  pieces,  and  now  they  had 


218  GLADSTONE:  A  BIOGRAPHICAL  STUDY. 

the  English  public  suddenly  to  educate  and  to  be  convinced  that  this, 
which  was  a  movement  in  the  direction  of  democracy,  was  a  wise  thing 
for  England. 

England  never  has  cared  to  learn  much  from  her  daughter,  America. 
It  is  obviously  true  that  she  had  to  learn,  at  that  time,  that  democratic 
principles  were  gaining  ground  in  England  because  of  the  success 
achieved  by  the  American  democracy  in  handling  the  Rebellion.  Mr. 
Gladstone's  adroitness,  his  unmistakable  ability  to  conceal  an  idea 
amidst  high-sounding  and  fascinating  phraseology,  even  his  unmatched 
gifts  as  an  orator,  were  needed  to  make  things  appear  palatable  to  the 
British  mind.  On  the  first  night  of  the  debate,  as  long  before  the  time 
of  which  we  are  writing  as  was  early  March,  Gladstone  had  supported 
the  Bill  with  dexterous  power.  It  is  doubtful  if  he  ever  appeared  to  bet- 
ter advantage  physically.  His  voice  rang  out  like  a  trumpet,  and  every 
tone  indicated  the  superb  health  of  his  vital  organism.  His  handsome 
face  appeared  so  transparent  that  the  burning  soul  looked  out  through 
every  feature  upon  his  audience.  The  supple,  fairly  tall,  spare  figure, 
marked  a  little  by  the  scholar's  stoop  until  the  moment  came"  when  he 
lifted  himself  to  his  full  height  and  thundered  forth  his  resistless  periods, 
held  its  volume  of  excitement  fairly  well,  while  he  shook  his  rather  large 
and  fine  head,  crowned,  as  it  was,  with  hair  which  was  turning  from  black 
to  gray,  and  destroyed  the  arguments  of  the  Opposition  by  a  glance 
from  the  piercing  eyes,  or  the  announcement  of  some  unanswerable  ar- 
gument, to  which  the  firm,  strong  chin  and  finely  moulded  mouth  loaned 
all  their  power. 

Mr.  Gladstone  always  gave  undeniable  evidence,  by  his  utterance  and 
its  character,  when  his  mind  was  not  quite  made  up,  or  when  he  saw 
difficulties  which  he  knew  were  stronger  than  his  antagonists  supposed. 
This  state  of  mind  manifested  itself  in  his  finding  four  or  five  terms 
with  which  to  express  his  meaning,  and  three  or  four  phrases  which  only 
served  to  indicate  how  unsatisfactory  to  himself  was  his  own  thought 
on  the  subject.  Time  after  time,  in  this  speech,  which  was  two  hours 
and  a  half  long,  Gladstone  demonstrated  the  fact  that  he  could  take 
more  sideroads  and  find  more  interesting  scenery  in  taking  them,  and 


LEADER  OF  THE  HOUSE  OF  COMMONS.  219 

still  get  back  upon  the  main  road,  than  any  man  in  England.     He  was 
not  quite  clear  to  himself,  although  he  spoke  with  vigor. 

It  was  very  apparent  that  Mr.  Robert  Lowe,  with  his  vitriolic  anal- 
ysis and  instinctive  doubt  as  to  the  value  of  Mr.  Gladstone's  oratorical 
productiveness,  could  ask  no  finer  opportunity  to  win  the  triumph  over 
his  old  Oxford  friend.  Gladstone  and  Lowe  could  never  understand 
one  another.  Lowe  was  as  predestined  a  failure  as  Gladstone  was  a  pre- 
destined success,  in  a  political  career.  Gladstone  had  genuine  sympa- 
thy for  the  people,  Lowe  had  none.  Gladstone  trusted  his  sentiments, 
and  loved  to  dally  with  his  own  reasons  and  study  their  subtleties;  Lowe 
despised  sentiment,  and  his  mind  was  too  hard  and  logical  to  tarry  long 
in  a  web  of  finely  spun  distinctions.  No  doubt  his  speech  that  night  ac- 
centuated the  defects  of  Gladstone's  advocacy  of  the  Reform. 

Everyone  who  met  Gladstone  at  this  time  discerned  a  resiliency 
of  intellectual  and  spiritual  fiber  remarkable  in  any  man.  Lord  Hough- 
ton  writes  of  him  at  this  moment: 

"I  sat  by  Gladstone  at  the  Delameres'.  He  was  very  much  excited, 
not  only  about  politics,  but  cattle-plague,  china,  and  everything  else.  It 
is  indeed  a  contrast  to  Palmerston's  Ha!  ha!  and  laissez-faire." 

Even  after  the  Reform  Bill  had  begun  to  shrivel  as  a  blossom  in  a 
time  of  frost,  Gladstone's  pluck  and  skill  for  confounding  his  enemies 
did  not  forsake  him.  He  had  the  disadvantage  of  finding  that  every- 
body could  say  when  the  Reform  Bill  proved  a  failure:  t:I  told  you  so." 
Bishop  Wilberforce  had  written  in  his  journal  March  I2th: 

"Gladstone  has  risen  entirely  to  his  position,  and  done  all  his  most 
sanguine  friends  hoped  for  as  leader.  .  .  •  .  There  is  a  general  feel- 
ing of  the  insecurity  of  the  Ministry,  and  the  Reform  Bill  to  be  launched 
to-night  is  thought  a  bad  rock." 

And  that  was  the  sentiment  of  all  thoughtful  England.  The  Glad- 
stone who  was  urging  England  toward  democracy  was  paying  for  his 
blunder  with  respect  to  the  ability  of  American  free  government  to  per- 
petuate itself  against  rebellion.  It  was  hard  to  argue  against  the  past. 

John  Bright  has  described  the  collection  of  half-hearted  Liberals 
who  organized  themselves  against  Gladstone  as  a  political  "Cave  of. 
Adullam,"  but  this  did  not  answer  their  contention. 


CHAPTER  XXV. 
GLADSTONE  AND  DISRAELI. 

It  was  remarkable,  if  not  disheartening,  to  Gladstone,  that  this  asso- 
ciation of  malcontents  was  growing  larger  day  by  day.  Its  most  pol- 
ished weapon  he  saw  when  the  son  of  his  father,  Sir  Robert  Peel,  spoke 
in  opposition  to  the  Bill.  No  doubt  Mr.  Gladstone's  speech  was  saved 
from  much  that  was  wandering  and  inconclusive,  by  the  fact  that  Dis- 
raeli so  bitterly  taunted  him  concerning  his  past.  The  thrust  roused 
him  to  noblest  eloquence.  Disraeli  was  more  than  ordinarily  patron- 
izing and  insolent  when  he  reminded  Gladstone  that  once  the  latter  had 
made  a  speech  in  the  Oxford  Union  against  the  Reform  Bill  of  1832. 
Gladstone  leaped  at  him  with  terrific  force  in  these  well-known  words: 

"The  right  hon.  gentleman,  secure  in  the  recollection  of  his  own 
consistency,  has  taunted  me  with  the  errors  of  my  boyhood.  When  he 
addressed  the  hon.  member  for  Westminster,  he  showed  his  magna- 
nimity by  declaring  that  he  would  not  take  the  philosopher  to  task  for 
what  he  wrote  twenty-five  years  ago;  but  when  he  caught  one  who, 
thirty-six  years  ago,  just  emerged  from  boyhood,  and  still  an  under- 
graduate at  Oxford,  had  expressed  an  opinion  adverse  to  the  Reform 
Bill  of  1832,  of  which  he  had  so  long  and  bitterly  repented,  then  the 
right  hon.  gentleman  could  not  resist  the  temptation.  He,  a  parlia- 
mentary leader  of  twenty  years'  standing,  is  so  ignorant  of  the  House 
of  Commons  that  he  positively  thought  he  got  a  parliamentary  advan- 
tage by  exhibiting  me  as  an  opponent  of  the  Reform  Bill  of  1832.  As 
the  right  hon.  gentleman  has  exhibited  me,  let  me  exhibit  myself.  It 
is  true,  I  deeply  regret  it,  but  I  was  bred  under  the  shadow  of  the  great 
name  of  Canning;  every  influence  connected  with  that  name  governed 
the  politics  of  my  childhood  and  of  my  youth;  with  Canning,  I  re- 
joiced in  the  removal  of  religious  disabilities,  and  in  the  character 
which  he  gave  to  our  policy  abroad;  with  Canning,  I  rejoiced  in  the 

220 


GLADSTONE  AND  DISRAELI.  221 

opening  which  he  made  towards  the  establishment  of  free  commercial 
interchanges  between  nations;  with  Canning,  and  under  the  shadow  of 
that  great  name,  and  under  the  shadow  of  that  yet  more  venerable 
name  of  Burke,  I  grant,  my  youthful  mind  and  imagination  were  im- 
pressed just  the  same  as  the  mature  mind  of  the  right  hon.  gentleman 
is  now  impressed.  I  had  conceived  that  fear  and  alarm  of  the  first 
Reform  Bill  in  the  days  of  my  undergraduate  career  at  Oxford  which 
the  right  hon.  gentleman  now  feels;  and  the  only  difference  between 
us  is  this — I  thank  him  for  bringing  it  out — that,  having  those  views,  I 
moved  the  Oxford  Union  Debating  Society  to  express  them  clearly, 
plainly,  forcibly,  in  downright  English,  and  that  the  right  hon.  gentle- 
man is  still  obliged  to  skulk  under  the  cover  of  the  amendment  of  the 
noble  lord.  I  envy  him  not  one  particle  of  the  polemical  advantage 
which  he  has  gained  by  his  discreet  reference  to  the  proceedings  of  the 
Oxford  Union  Debating  Society  in  the  year  of  grace  1831.  My 
position,  sir,  in  regard  to  the  Liberal  party  is  in  all  points  the  opposite 
of  Earl  Russell's.  ...  I  have  none  of  the  claims  he  possesses.  I 
came  among  you  an  outcast  from  those  with  whom  I  associated,  driven 
from  them,  I  admit,  by  no  arbitrary  act,  but  by  the  slow  and  resistless 
forces  of  conviction.  I  came  among  you,  to  make  use  of  the  legal 
phraseology,  in  formd  fauperis.  I  had  nothing  to  offer  you  but  faith- 
ful and  honorable  service.  You  received  me,  as  Dido  received  the 
shipwrecked  ^Eneas — 

Ejectum  littore  egentem 
Excepi, 

and  I  only  trust  you  may  not  hereafter  at  any  time  have  to  complete 
the  sentence  in  regard  to  me — 

Et  regni  demens  in  parte  locavi. 

You  received  me  with  kindness,  indulgence,  generosity,  and  I  may 
even  say  with  some  measure  of  confidence.  And  the  relation  between 
us  has  assumed  such  a  form  that  you  can  never  be  my  debtors,  but  that 
I  must  forever  be  in  your  debt.  It  is  not  from  me,  under  such  cir- 
cumstances, that  any  word  will  proceed  that  can  savor  of  the  character 


222  GLADSTONE:  A  BIOGRAPHICAL  STUDY. 

which  the  right  hon.  gentleman  imputes  to  the  conduct  of  the  Govern- 
ment with  respect  to  the  present  Bill." 

More  and  more  rich  became  his  eloquence,  as  he  concluded: 
"Sir,  we  are  assailed;  this  Bill  is  in  a  state  of  crisis  and  of  peril,  and 
the  Government  along  with  it.  We  stand  or  fall  with  it,  as  has  been 
declared  by  my  noble  friend  Lord  Russell.  We  stand  with  it  now;  we 
may  fall  with  it  a  short  time  hence.  If  we  do  so  fall,  we,  or  others  in 
our  places,  shall  rise  with  it  hereafter.  I  shall  not  attempt  to  measure 
with  precision  the  forces  that  are  to  be  arrayed  against  us  in  the  coming 
issue.  Perhaps  the  great  division  of  to-night  is  not  the  last  that  must 
take  place  in  the  struggle.  At  some  point  of  the  contest  you  may 
possibly  succeed.  You  may  drive  us  from  our  seats.  You  may  bury  the 
Bill  that  we  have  introduced,  but  we  will  write  upon  its  gravestone,  for 
an  epitaph,  this  line,  with  certain  confidence  in  its  fulfillment: 

Exoriare  aliquis  nostris  ex  ossibus  ultor. 

You  cannot  fight  against  the  future.  Time  is  on  our  side.  The  great 
social  forces  which  move  onwards  in  their  might  and  majesty,  and 
which  the  tumult  of  our  debates  does  not  for  a  moment  impede  or 
disturb — those  great  social  forces  are  against  you;  they  are  marshaled 
on  our  side;  and  the  banner  which  we  now  carry  into  this  fight,  though 
perhaps  at  some  moment  it  may  droop  over  our  sinking  heads,  yet  it 
soon  again  will  float  in  the  eye  of  Heaven,  and  it  will  be  borne  by  the 
firm  hands  of  the  united  people  of  the  three  kingdoms,  perhaps  not  to 
an  easy,  but  to  a  certain,  and  to  a  not  far  distant,  victory." 

Perhaps  never  had  Gladstone  so  moved  the  English  nation  by  his 
eloquence,  and  it  is  a  question,  if,  in  modern  times,  any  single  utterance 
in  a  hall  of  legislation  has  so  instantly  and  widely  commanded  the  en- 
thusiasm of  a  people  as  did  this  speech.  The  future  England — indeed 
"the  parliament  of  man,  the  federation  of  the  world,"  for  an  hour,  hung, 
not  as  a  dream,  impossible  of  realization,  in  the  sky,  but  as  a  reality  to 
be  soon  reached  and  enjoyed — and  this  vision,  at  the  moment,  actually 
thrilled  the  somewhat  heavy  and  stolid  intelligence  of  John  Bull,  shop- 
keeper. Disraeli's  remark,  that  the  English  are,  after  all,  an  enthusiastic 
people,  would  have  been  taken  as  sober  truth,  by  a  chance  visitor  from 


GLADSTONE  AND  DISRAELI.  223 

abroad,  who,  next  morning,  tried  to  get  a  hearing  at  table  or  at  the  rail- 
way station  upon  the  subject  of  his  breakfast  or  his  ticket.  Crowds  of 
excited  men  were  listening  to  another  full-voiced  Briton  as  he  read 
Gladstone's  speech — the  tears  and  shouts  mingling,  as  sentence  after 
sentence  came  upon  their  eager  ears.  Drawing  rooms,  not  yet  disen- 
chanted by  the  "society"  whose  fantastic  prerogatives  such  a  philosophy 
as  his  would  inevitably  sweep  away,  gave  themselves  ujp  to  his  praise. 
His  house  was  filled  with  a  host  of  admirers  and  his  eye  looked  out  upon 
crowds  who  had  seen  from  afar  but  who  were  yet  sure  at  least  for  the 
present,  to  be  cheated  out  of  the  better  day  he  prophesied.  It  would 
not  be  fair  to  say  that  Gladstone's  eloquence  was  the  only  product  of 
oratory  and  genius  in  that  debate.  Mr.  Robert  Lowe,  as  Conservative  in 
this  hour  as  he  was  likely  to  be  Liberal  the  next,  a  man  who  profoundly 
distrusted  the  people  and  who  saw  that  Americanism  had  at  last  cap- 
tured Gladstone,  uttered  a  brilliant  protest.  He  was  soon  to  be  made 
Lord  Sherbrooke  and  his  speech  was  characteristic: 

"Monarchies,"  said  he,  "exist  by  loyalty,  aristocracies  by  honor,  pop- 
ular assemblies  by  political  virtue.  When  these  things  begin  to  fail,  it 
is  in  their  loss,  and  not  in  comets,  eclipses  and  earthquakes,  that  we  are 
to  look  for  the  portents  that  herald  the  fall  of  States."  And  again:  "We 
are  about  to  exchange  certain  good  for  more  than  doubtful  change;  we 
are  about  to  barter  maxims  and  traditions  that  never  failed  for  theories 
and  doctrines  that  never  succeeded.  Democracy  you  may  have  at  any 
time.  Night  and  day  the  gate  is  open  that  leads  to  that  bare  and  level 
plain  where  every  ant's  nest  is  a  mountain  and  every  thistle  a  forest-tree. 
But  a  Government  such  as  that  of  England  is  the  work  of  no  human 
hand.  It  has  grown  up  by  the  imperceptible  aggregation  of  centuries. 
It  is  a  thing  which  we  only  can  enjoy,  which  we  cannot  impart  to  others, 
and  which,  once  lost,  we  can  not  recover  for  ourselves." 

Against  such  Conservatism  not  even  Gladstone  could  lead  John  Bull 
at  that  hour. 

There  was  no  possible  use  in  Russell  and  Gladstone  attempting 
to  carry  the  Bill  unless  some  concessions  were  made.  After  a  bare 
majority  of  five  had  carried  its  second  reading,  these  conciliations  were 
offered,  but  they  were  offered  in  vain.  On  the  anniversary  day,  when 


224  GLADSTONE:  A  BIOGRAPHICAL  STUDY. 

the  English  spirit  congratulated  itself  on  the  victory  obtained  over 
Napoleon  at  Waterloo  by  Wellington,  a  motion  was  carried  against  the 
Government.  Rating  for  rental  was  substituted  as  the  basis  of  the 
Franchise  in  boroughs.  Lord  Macaulay's  nephew  gave  to  the  public  a 
poem  which  made  its  place  in  the  history  of  the  time.  Tribulation  in- 
creased for  the  "Gladstone  coterie,"  so-called,  and  it  was  driven  to 
resign.  A  financial  panic  came,  the  European  continent  quivered  with 
alarm;  Queenstown  saw  an  American  monitor  in  the  harbor,  and  ex- 
citement was  intense  from  one  end  of  the  realm  to  the  other.  The  one 
fact  which  left  its  mark  was  the  Austro-Prussian  conflict,  of  which 
Gladstone  afterwards  said: 

"Never  was  there  a  war  shorter  than  that  of  1866,  but  its  conse- 
qr^nces  were  immense.  It  restored  the  national  existence  of  Germany, 
and  brought  within  view  its  complete  consolidation.  It  consummated 
the  national  unity  of  Italy.  It  put  an  end  to  all  possibility  of  refusing 
the  demands  of  Hungary.  As  part  of  the  Hungarian  arrangement,  it 
secured  free  government  for  the  whole  Austrian  Empire,  and,  lastly, 
in  thus  restoring  the  power  of  utterance  and  action  to  that  country,  it 
shattered  the  fabric  of  Ultramontanism  which  had  been  built  up  by  the 
Concordat  of  1855.  Such  were  the  results,  in  the  South,  of  those  few 
weeks  of  war." 

Gladstone  was  at  least  satisfactory  to  the  Radicals.  Would  they  gc 
too  far  for  him?  Bright  was  satisfied. 

"Who  is  there  in  the  House  of  Commons,"  he  demanded,  "who 
equals  him  in  knowledge  of  all  political  questions?  Who  equals  him  in 
earnestness?  Who  equals  him  in  eloquence?  Who  equals  him  in  cour- 
age and  fidelity  to  his  convictions?  If  these  gentlemen  who  say  they 
will  not  follow  him  have  any  one  who  is  equal,  let  them  show  him.  If 
they  can  point  out  any  statesman  who  can  add  dignity  and  grandeur  to 
the  stature  of  Mr.  Gladstone,  let  them  produce  him." 

Radicalism  had  frightened  sober  John  Bull.  It  seemed  to  be  a  poor 
time  for  reforms,  when  Trafalgar  Square  was  made  riotous  by  more 
than  100,000  people  passing  resolutions  in  its  favor.  Yet  Gladstone  was 
holding  his  own.  The  music  of  Mr.  George  Trevelyan's  poem  was 
turned  into  truth,  and  Mr.  Gladstone's  house  was  surrounded  by  a 


8 


PL. 


RIGHT  HONORABLE -THE  MARQUIS  OF  SALISBURY,  K.G. 


GLADSTONE  AND  DISRAELI.  225 

throng  of  Englishmen  who  sang  hymns  in  his  honor.  Nothing  could 
have  added  more  signally  to  the  popularity  of  the  Chancellor  of  the 
Exchequer  than  the  fact  that  as  Lord  Russell's  Government  went  down, 
the  stalwart  conviction  and  unquestioned  genius  of  Gladstone  became 
manifest  to  Great  Britain.  Every  one  of  his  friends  believed  that  a  year 
or  two  of  opposition  would  strengthen  him,  and  they  were  right. 

Meantime  Mr.  Gladstone's  sobriety  and  good  sense  appeared  to 
the  best  advantage.  His  were  small  as  contrasted  with  the  difficulties 
which  Mr.  Robert  Lowe's  sharp  sword  had  produced  for  himself,  in 
the  fact  that  the  laboring  people  of  Great  Britain  were  more  indignant 
as  to  his  scorn  of  them  than  they  were  credulous  as  to  the  truth  stated 
in  Mr.  Gladstone's  eloquence,  or  in  John  Stuart  Mill's  reasoning.  It 
is  certain  that  Gladstone  lost  no  opportunity  to  take  advantage  of  the 
popular  sympathy  which  was  aroused  when  Mr.  Robert  Lowe's  strange 
talent  for  saying  the  wrong  thing  led  him  to  utter  his  bitter  attack  upon 
the  working  classes  and  led  them  to  believe  that  theirs  was  Gladstone's 
cause.  This  added  significance  to  the  vast  assemblage  in  Trafalgar 
Square. 

Mr.  Gladstone  was  now  a  public  figure  of  such  prominence  that  it 
was  entirely  impossible  for  him  to  move  without  creating  curiosity  and 
remark.  He  had  been  a  long  loved  and  honored  friend  of  Cardinal 
Manning,  and  Newman  had  influenced  his  thinking  and  religious  life. 
Now  he  and  his  family  went  to  visit  Rome  and  they  called  upon  Pope 
Pius  IX.  For  eighteen  months  thereafter,  from  whisper  to  public  proc- 
lamation, "the  accusation  growing  bold  and  true,"  the  report  gained 
currency  that  he  had  gone  to  Rome  to  arrange  with  the  Pope  to  destroy 
Protestant  Church  Establishment  in  Ireland,  and  to  consult  with  respect 
to  other  matters  of  like  importance,  he  being  at  heart  a  Roman  Catholic. 
It  is  easy  to  imagine  what  Philistinism  and  bigotry  in  England  made 
out  of  a  report  so  delicious  to  its  taste  as  was  this  one.  We  doubt  very 
much  if  Gladstone  ever  got  over  the  effect  of  the  report  that  he  either 
had  been  intending  to  join  the  Roman  Church,  or  was  intending  it  now, 
or  was  going  to  intend  it  in  the  future.  It  has  been  continually  embar- 
rassing to  his  career  as  he  has  dealt  with  the  problem  involving  the  des- 
tinies of  the  Irish  people. 

15 


226  GLADSTONE:  A  BIOGRAPHICAL  STUDY. 

At  this  time  Gladstone  gave  a  great  deal  of  attention  to  what  was 
called  the  Ritualistic  Movement  in  the  Church  of  England.  Americans 
have,  at  one  time,  been  called  upon  to  face  the  question  as  to  whether 
a  special  denomination  of  Christians  should  arrogate  to  themselves  the 
name  of  "Church  of  America."  The  Ritualistic  party  in  America  was 
in  the  lead  during  this  discussion,  and  perhaps  educated  the  American 
mind  into  some  interest  as  to  the  general  drift  of  Ritualism  elsewhere. 
Gladstone's  high  churchmanship  led  him  at  once  into  an  appreciation 
of  the  symbolism  and  poetry  of  ceremonial  and  worship.  It  was  at  the 
time  of  the  Church  Congress  that  the  Ritualists  gave  their  exhibition 
of  clothes  used  in  their  services.  Seven  large  rooms  were  filled  with 
copes,  stoles,  chasubles  and  the  like,  and  this  display,  while  it  fascinated 
the  antiquarians  and  tickled  John  Bull  in  so  far  as  he  was  a  manufacturer 
of  ecclesiastical  millinery,  and  whatever  else  they  needed,  excited  an 
intense  feeling  of  antagonism  to  the  whole  Ritualistic  movement.  Glad- 
stone's famous  essays  on  the  general  subject  were  being  prepared. 

The  only  other  subject  upon  which  Gladstone  talked  at  all  times 
and  with  everybody  in  the  course  of  these  autumn  days,  was  the  Elective 
Franchise.  True,  the  Reform  Bill  had  failed,  but  the  justice  and  the  ex- 
pediency of  a  wider  suffrage  was  most  apparent  to  Gladstone.  For  the 
common  people  not  to  desire  it  and  for  England  to  be  glad,  was  for 
England  to  agree  to  their  voluntary  degradation.  Gladstone  saw  the 
educational  value  of  suffrage,  subject  to  such  qualifications  as  an  intelli- 
gent man  would  propose.  There  was  a  growing  feeling  now  that  it  was 
fair  to  admit  men  into  the  processes  of  civilization  if  it  was  meant 
to  civilize  them,  and  that  this  was  wiser  than  to  leave  them  out  where 
their  interests  and  prejudices  could  have  no  voice  or  vote.  The  aston- 
ishing success  of  the  American  Union  began  to  fill  the  mind  of  England 
with  larger  hopes  for  democracy  everywhere.  The  ten-pound  house- 
holder stop-and-brake  had  not  hitherto  kept  England  from  corruption. 
No  wise  man  would  say  that  the  morals  of  a  voting  class,  each  having 
an  income  of  10,000  pounds,  would  be  higher  than  the  morals  of  a  vot- 
ing class  having  an  income  of  100  pounds  per  annum.  Of  one  thing 
Gladstone  was  convinced,  the  burden  of  proof  lay  upon  the  advocates 
of  an  exclusive  franchise.  The  tests  ought  to  be  rational,  not  arbitrary. 


GLADSTONE  AND  DISRAELI.  227 

Permanence  of  residence  and  education  were  better  and  sounder  tests 
than  wealth  and  a  fine  pedigree.  A  Constitutional  Government  depending 
upon  the  loyalty  of  all  its  citizens  could  not  be  carried  on  by  shutting 
out  a  large  proportion  of  the  community  and  compelling  them. to  believe 
that  the  cherished  interests  of  a  few  always  controlled  legislation.  John 
Stuart  Mill  stood  by  him  again  and  again,  in  urging  the  fact  that  popular 
suffrage  has  a  most  stimulating  effect  on  the  popular  mind.  As  democ- 
racy grew  in  England,  such  men  as  Gladstone  did  not  fear  the  excite- 
ment of  an  election. 

The  consideration  of  public  affairs  by  the  public  involves  an  im- 
mense educational  movement,  and  on  this  educational  movement  Mr. 
Gladstone  was  relying  more  day  by  day. 

Meantime  the  English  radicals  and  the  Irish  Democrats,  under  the  in- 
fluence of  Mr.  Bright  and  the  Roman  Catholic  bishops  whom  he  met  at 
Dublin,  were  forming  as  much  of  an  alliance  as  was  possible  with  the 
turbulent  Irish  agitators,  who  entered  the  combination  and  who  now 
saw  that  Gladstone,  with  Mill  and  Bright,  were  sure  to  do  something 
soon  with  the  Land  Tenure  and  the  Irish  Church. 

A  conspicuous  figure  now  arose  who  called  himself  "The  O'Donog- 
hue."  He  was  almost  as  eloquent  as  Mr.  Bright,  and  as  handsome  as 
Gladstone,  and  he  refused  to  use  the  title  "Mr."  and  was  called  "The" 
because  he  had  descended  from  an  Irish  king.  He  was  ubiquitous,  wily 
and  able,  and  had  to  be  reckoned  with. 

It  was  anticipated  that  Disraeli  had  persuaded  the  Conservative  Min- 
istry to  a  proposition  looking  toward  Household  Suffrage.  He  had 
craftily  left  a  path  open  to  this  concession  by  his  recent  speech. 

And  now,  peace-defending  John  Bright  was  heard  sounding  strange 
tones  from  beneath  his  broad,  Quaker  hat.  It  is  possible  that  if  Mr. 
Bright  had  known  to  what  extent  his  words  would  have  been  quoted  at 
a  later  date,  he  would  not  have  labored  for  the  regeneration  of  Ireland 
by  intimating  that  the  item  of  physical  force  should  have  something  to 
do  with  the  settlement  of  the  question.  It  was  an  anomalous  thing  for 
John  Bright  to  do,  but  it  was  a  time  when  physical  force  had  been  ap- 
pealed to  on  other  matters.  At  the  meeting  at  Trafalgar  Square,  in 
which  Gladstone  and  Bright  had  been  praised  by  the  workingmen,  much 


228  GLADSTONE:  A  BIOGRAPHICAL  STUDY. 

must  have  reminded  Gladstone  and  Bright  how  that  the  same  governing 
classes  which  were  resisting  reform  had  before  resisted  almost  every- 
thing but  physical  force  in  1832.  At  a  famous  meeting  in  Birmingham 
now  Bright  received  with  delight  the  announcement  that  100,000  work- 
ing-men and  artisans  would  again  pledge  to  march  on  London.  In  1832 
the  threat  of  creating  a  new  company  of  lords  who  could  handle  the  old 
peers  who  had  resisted  Reform  brought  the  Throne  and  the  Upper 
House  to  terms.  Now  the  House  of  Lords,  having  declined  to  be  led 
by  Gladstone  toward  a  broadening  of  the  suffrage,  looked  out  upon  the 
scene  and  saw  the  possibility  of  100,000  workingmen  marching  on  Lon- 
don, and  raising  such  a  tumult  in  other  ways  as  either  to  ultimately  fill 
the  House  of  Lords  with  undesirable  occupants  or  to  abolish  it.  Noisy 
indeed  were  the  peasantry  of  Ireland  whenever  the  Irish  question 
touched  their  Church  or  State.  They  were  learning  from  other  lands. 
Stein  had  raised  the  Prussian  peasantry  from  wretchedness  and  ignorance 
and  revolt,  to  comfort  and  intelligence  and  political  power,  and  it  was 
upon  the  lips  of  men  who  would  willingly  have  granted  Gladstone's  con- 
tention on  Disestablishment,  that  things  must  go  no  further  until  Ireland 
was  civilized,  not  by  physical  force,  which,  either  in  England  or  in  Ire- 
land, had  done  so  much  to  uncivilize  her,  but  by  some  such  radical 
change  as  would  contemplate  the  possession  of  land  by  the  citizens  of 
Ireland  in  fee  simple.  Fenianism  arose  out  of  its  grave,  and  the  specter 
horrified  the  country.  The  London  Times  and  the  Morning  Post 
warned  the  Irish  people  that  the  rebellion  would  be  disastrous.  The 
Reform  Administration  meanwhile  had  met  in  London.  At  this  time 
John  Bright's  eloquence  had  reached  a  height  altogether  unmatched, 
even  by  Mr.  Gladstone's  versatile  powers.  Ordinarily  Bright  had  to 
struggle,  in  the  House  of  Commons,  and  out  of  it,  with  an  audience 
which  did  not  agree  with  him.  He  spoke  to  monster  meetings 
in  London  and  elsewhere.  Within  the  sound  of  St.  Stephen's  debates, 
his  audience  carried  him  on  into  unwonted  realms  of  oratorical  splendor. 
The  Tory  policy  with  reference  to  the  evils  of  Ireland  had  received  more 
cautious,  more  just,  and  therefore  more  terrible  and  unanswerable  an- 
tagonism from  the  calmer  and  more  skillful  oratory  of  Gladstone.  But 
never  before  had  severity  joined  with  genius  to  cast  upon  the  Tory 


GLADSTONE  AND  DISRAELI. 


229 


party  an  odium  so  overwhelming  as  came  from  Bright's  address  at  this 
time. 

Meantime  Gladstone  was  taking  thoughtful  notice  of  the  fact  that  a 
strong  feeling  had  arisen  among  workingmen  that  the  State  Church 
was  not  worthy  of  the  place  which  it  at  least  held,  if  it  had  not  usurped, 
and  that  the  property  which  belonged  to  all  the  nation  ought  not  to  be 
used  for  a  particular  class  of  people.  The  opposition  of  the  House  of 
Lords  to  reform,  and  the  discussion  of  Irish  Church  Disestablishment 
had  led  to  this  feeling,  and  now  Mr.  Gladstone  set  his  great  energies 
to  the  task  of  influencing  the  body  of  clergy  in  the  English  Church  to 
discharge  their  high  functions  in  regard  to  education  and  the  general 
treatment  of  social  grievances,  so  that  the  institution  which,  as  we  have 
seen,  he  loved  so  much,  and  which  was  so  vital  to  the  larger  interests 
of  England  and  humanity,  might  worthily  stand  in  the  front  rank  of 
the  forces  of  progress. 

Such  always  was  the  statesmanship  of  Gladstone,  that  no  biographer 
can  state,  for  none  can  calculate,  the  conservative  influence  he  has  exer- 
cised in  labors  like  these.  Institutions  may  be  preserved  only  by  states- 
men who  make  them  worthy  of  themselves. 

Early  in  February  Parliament  was  opened,  and  the  Lord  Chan- 
cellor stood  by  the  side  of  the  Queen  and  read  the  speech.  Everybody 
waited  for  Disraeli  to  redeem  the  promise  that  the  Government  should 
do  something  about  Reform.  Gladstone  appeared  to  see,  as  everybody 
else  saw,  that  Lord  John  Russell  was  failing  in  physical  power  and  intel- 
lectual energy,  and  Gladstone  himself  was  more  brilliant  and  industrious 
than  usual.  He  promised  to  help  his  opponents,  if  they  would  deal  hon- 
estly and  progressively  with  the  questions  before  them.  Perhaps  Glad- 
stone's impulsiveness  was  never  more  counted  upon  by  his  antagonists 
than  just  at  this  time.  His  versatility  had  now  and  then  added  to  his 
difficulties  by  giving  him  a  reputation  for  bad  temper  and  arrogance. 
He  was  in  a  trying  position.  His  High  Churchmanship  made  the  Dis- 
senters unsatisfied  with  him.  His  leaning  toward  the  people  inflamed 
such  men  as  Lord  Cranborne  to  compare  him  to  a  pettifogging  attor- 
ney, and,  next  day,  to  apologize  to  the  attorneys  of  England  for  doing 
so.  The  old  Whig  families  hated  him  because  he  gave  so  much  talent 


230  GLADSTONE:  A  BIOGRAPHICAL  STUDY. 

to  the  cause  of  the  plebeians.  But  he  had  genius,  and  he  was  in  the 
right. 

Just  at  this  time,  when  the  Fenians  were  attempting  to  raise  a  revo- 
lution in  the  neighborhood  of  Hawarden  Castle,  Gladstone's  home,  Mr. 
Disraeli  arose  to  present  the  Government  scheme  of  Reform.  His 
deep  and  sonorous  voice  quivered  as  he  threw  taunt  and  challenge  to 
those  who  had  stood  for  Reform,  and  his  manner  was  irritably  lofty  and 
serious  as  he  uttered  admirably  phrased  commonplaces  apparently 
charged  with  the  deepest  political  wisdom.  Theatrical  in  the  extreme, 
Lis  pompous  sneer  accompanied  him  as  he  strode  forth,  dealing  out  tin- 
sel and  drops  of  burning  sarcasm,  never  attempting  the  heights  of  elo- 
quence visited  by  Bright  or  the  more  rigorous  paths  of  statesmanship 
toward  which  Gladstone  was  leading  England.  He  spoke  of  Goldwin 
Smith  as  a  "rampant  lecturer,"  and  coolly  proposed  that  every  such  man 
as  he  should  be  willing  to  think  Reform  a  measure  above  party,  and  he 
hinted  that  he  and  his  party  alone  ought  to  determine  about  the  Fran- 
chise, the  redistribution  of  seats,  and  whatever  else  the  Liberal  party 
was  aimlessly  talking  about.  Soon  the  Government  scheme  of  Reform 
was  published,  and  the  Conservative  party  found  itself  hopelessly  at  war 
with  itself. 

It  was  John  Bright  who  gave  Mr.  Disraeli  a  name  which  followed 
him  to  the  last.  What  Bright  had  said  now  appeared  truer  than  ever: 

"Now,  Mr.  Disraeli  is  a  man  who  does  what  may  be  called  the  con- 
juring for  his  party.  He  is  what,  amongst  a  tribe  of  Red  Indians,  would 
be  called  'the  mystery  man.'  He  invents  phrases  for  them — and  one  of 
the  phrases,  the  last  and  the  newest,  is  this  lateral  extension  of  the  fran- 
chise. Now,  Mr.  Disraeli  is  a  man  of  brains,  of  genius,  of  great  capacity 
for  action,  of  a  wonderful  tenacity  of  purpose,  and  of  a  rare  courage.  He 
would  have  been  a  statesman  if  his  powers  had  been  directed  by  any 
noble  principle  or  idea.  But,  unhappily,  he  prefers  a  temporary  and 
worthless  distinction  as  the  head  of  a  decaying  party,  fighting  for  im- 
possible ends,  to  the  priceless  memories  of  services  rendered  to  his  country 
and  to  freedom,  on  which  only  in  our  age  an  enduring  fame  can  be 
built  up." 

Disraeli  kept  England  waiting  for  some  deep  and  wise  scheme  of 
policy  to  unfold  itself,  Gladstone  watched  carefully,  expecting  to  see 


GLADSTONE  AND  DISRAELI.  231 

his  own  Bill,  changed  sufficiently  to  satisfy  the  prejudice  of  aristocracy 
and  the  demand  of  the  rabble,  offered  by  Mr.  Disraeli.  At  last  Dis- 
raeli showed  his  hand,  and  he  spoke  in  introduction  of  a  Reform  Bill 
which  his  party  despised  because  it  was  a  Reform  Bill,  and  which  the 
Liberals  laughed  at.  Gladstone  had  already  triumphed  so  far  that  the 
Cabinet  had  to  offer  a  bolder  scheme,  and  a  device  was  added  to  the 
scheme  of  Household  Suffrage,  and  Disraeli  solemnly  warranted  it  all 
to  work.  Meantime  the  more  orthodox  Conservatives  resigned,  before 
the  "mystery  man,"  and  the  silent  advance  of  Gladstone's  prudent  and 
self-restrained  battalion.  The  man  who  had  been  accused  of  arrogance 
and  bad  temper,  who  was  simply  and  nobly  angered  at  the  folly  of  his 
friends  and  the  audacity  of  his  foes  in  the  presence  of  a  supreme  ques- 
tion, beheld  his  opponents  dispirited  in  the  meantime. 

The  "Cave  of  Adullam,"  in  which  the  discontented  of  Liberalism 
gathered,  with  Mr.  Lowe  posing  as  a  Liberal  in  everything  else  but 
the  one  thing  for  which  Liberalism  had  the  right  to  exist,  felt  the  humil- 
iation. Gladstone's  followers,  who  were  led  farther  than  they  wanted 
to  go  in  the  direction  of  popular  government,  were  swept  on  by  the  en- 
thusiasm of  the  victor.  Nobody  knew  what  would  be  the  end  of  the  con- 
troversy. Disraeli  had  only  a  remnant  of  his  own  party,  but  he  had  the 
support  of  a  large  fraction  of  the  opposition  who  were  in  favor  of  Re- 
form. Was  it  possible  that  this  athletic  magician,  who  was  a  Conserva- 
tive only  by  accident,  as  Gladstone  was  a  Liberal  by  conviction,  could 
unite  a  fragment  of  the  Tory  party  with  the  mob  on  the  streets  and  make 
a  Reform  Bill  desirable  to  England?  Mr.  Gladstone  was  certainly 
rising  to  a  place  in  the  admiration  of  England  to  which  he  had  never 
before  attained.  Henry  Fawcett,  afterwards  to  be  his  Postmaster  Gen- 
eral, now  the  blind  and  beloved  member  for  Brighton,  the  author  of  ex- 
cellent works  on  political  economy  and  a  laborious  ally,  with  Thomas 
Hughes,  of  Rugby  fame  and  of  philanthropic  enterprises,  represented 
the  sort  of  men  who  were  rapidly  coming  to  speak  of  Gladstone  with  en- 
thusiasm, and  even  the  old  Whigs  regarded  the  vehemence  of  his  speech 
as  a'witness  to  the  eagerness  of  his  soul. 

Never  were  Gladstone  and  Disraeli  more  unconsciously  leaving  in- 
effaceable portraits  of  themselves  for  the  eyes  of  England  to  look  upon, 


232  GLADSTONE:  A  BIOGRAPHICAL  STUDY. 

Gladstone's  eloquence  suffered  oftentimes  from  his  cleverness  in  the 
handling  of  words,  but  it  suffered  more  from  the  tendency  of  his  mind  to 
see  interesting  distinctions  which  are  important  only  to  a  scholastic  mind 
and  for  which  words  are  the  names,  and  then  it  was  that  words  mastered 
him,  and  he  waded  uneffectively  through  his  too  elaborate  and  sonorous 
sentences.  Never  until  his  conscience  and  heart  were  stirred  so  that 
his  intellect  had  no  time  for  subtleties,  did  the  impetuous  stream  carry 
its  full  burden  of  meaning,  and  his  fervid  imagination  yield  its  resources 
to  his  fully  conceived  purpose  as  an  orator.  Gladstone's  ardent  tem- 
perament shines  through  these  4best  appeals,  and  one  can  easily 
understand  how  much  more  popular  Disraeli  must  have  been  in  what 
Thackeray  calls  "society,"  where,  a  cold  cleverness  means  so  much  and 
where  an  imperious  moral  aim  means  so  little. 

Gladstone  appeared  to  be  leading  his  party,  when  Disraeli's  Bill  pro- 
posing to  establish  Household  Suffrage  came  up.  Gladstone  objected 
to  the  establishment  of  unequal  suffrage  as  Disraeli  proposed,  and  to  the 
leaving  of  the  distribution  of  the  franchise  to  be  handled  by  whimsical 
parish  vestries.  He  proposed  a  substitute  for  Mr.  Disraeli's  qualification, 
and  he  advocated  an  instruction  to  the  committee  embodying  the  scheme 
of  a  uniform  rate  giving  the  franchise  to  all  occupiers  of  holdings  rated 
at  five  pounds.  Gladstone's  enemies  saw  that  a  race  was  in  progress  be- 
tween him  and  Disraeli,  and  he  was  accused  of  going  too  far  "toward  the 
mob,"  in  admitting  a  far  larger  number  of  persons  to  the  vote  than  even 
Disraeli  proposed.  Besides,  the  Liberal  leaders  were  afraid  their  con- 
stituents would  say  that  this  amendment  would  create  an  arbitrary  line, 
making  a  man's  right  to  vote  rest  on  the  value  of  his  house,  and  not  on 
the  size  of  his  taxes  or  the  amount  of  his  intelligence. 

The  famous  "tea-room  meeting"  of  the  Liberals  occurred.  Glad- 
stone was  told  of  their  refusal  to  support  him.  The  vote  showed  a  vic- 
tory for  Disraeli,  and  the  Tories  were  jubilant.  Gladstone  could  only 
say  to  to  his  friends:  "I  have  deferred  to  the  opinions  of  others;  I  aban- 
doned the  instruction  I  proposed;  I  have  been  accused  of  arrogance  and 
imperiousness.  Had  I  been  imperious  in  this  case,  my  very  defeat 
would  have  been  a  victory." 


CHAPTER   XXVI. 
THE  DERBY-DISRAELI  GOVERNMENT. 

The  Derby-Disraeli  Government  had  been  constituted  in  February, 
and  Disraeli's  plan  for  the  reduction  of  the  Franchise  in  Boroughs  had 
come  before  Parliament  in  the  shape  of  resolutions.  At  length  Glad- 
stone succeeded  in  forcing  Disraeli  to  offer  the  plan  in  the  form  of  a 
Bill.  Even  this  did  not  produce  a  political  paradise.  But  Gladstone 
was  not  through  with  public  life.  He  gave  notice  of  amendments  to  the 
Bill  which  Disraeli  insisted  were  so  vital  that  if  they  should  succeed  the 
Government  would  decline  further  responsibility.  The  discussion  re- 
vealed great  diversity  of  ideas.  Gladstone's  first  resolution  was  re- 
jected, but  after  the  Easter  vacation,  in  the  hey-day  of  their  power,  and 
in  the  confident  expectation  upon  the  part  of  the  Government  that  the 
Bill  would  pass  and  be  satisfactory  to  his  following  of  Conservatives,  in 
spite  of  the  modifications  urged  by  the  Liberals,  Disraeli  saw  his  meas- 
ure utterly  transformed.  Gladstone  had  succeeded  in  getting  his  ten 
Modifications  adopted,  with  the  single  exception  of  the  second,  which 
was  subsequently  taken  in,  and  the  Conservatives  had  surrendered.  It 
was  the  most  unprecedented  struggle  in  length  and  severity  in  which 
Gladstone  and  Disraeli  ever  took  part,  each  calling  forth  the  reserve 
energy  and  unsuspected  dexterity  of  the  other  in  the  exciting  duel.  On 
and  on  these  debates  led  them,  confronting  ministerial  crises,  pushing 
responsibilities  from  one  side  to  the  other,  until  the  House  of  Commons 
grew  weary,  and  in  July,  1867,  passed  the  schedules,  and  called  for  the 
third  reading  of  the  Bill.  Meantime  Lord  John  Russell  had  definitely 
withdrawn  from  politics  and  given  the  leadership  of  the  party  into  Glad- 
stone's hands. 

In  November,  1867,  Mrs.  Disraeli  fell  ill.  The  Abyssinian  difficulty 
came  before  Parliament  in  the  short  session  before  Christmas.  Mr. 
Gladstone,  naturally,  was  interested,  and  desired  to  talk  on  the  address, 

233 


234  GLADSTONE:  A  BIOGRAPHICAL  STUDY. 

but  he  declined,  under  the  circumstances,  to  speak  on  any  subject  which 
might  challenge  Mr.  Disraeli  to  contest  with  him  in  debate  at  such  a 
time. 

Disraeli  was  now  as  much  of  a  turncoat,  in  the  eyes  of  the  Conserva- 
tives, as  Gladstone  had  ever  been.  It  was  not  necessary  for  Gladstone 
to  visit  his  wrath  upon  his  old  foe,  even  if  he  had  any  to  visit,  which  was 
not  the  case  in  the  present  instance.  Lord  Cranbourne  and  Mr.  Lowe 
could  attend  to  Disraeli.  It  is  sufficient  to  quote  Lord  Cranbourne's 
last  remark,  which  was  surpassed  in  severity  by  Mr.  Lowe's  longer 
reference  to  the  subject: 

"I  should  deeply  regret  to  find  that  the  House  of  Commons  has  ap- 
plauded a  policy  of  legerdemain;  and  I  should  above  all  things  regret 
that  this  great  gift  to  the  people,  if  gift  you  think  it,  should  have  been 
purchased  at  the  cost  of  a  political  betrayal  which  has  no  parallel  in  our 
parliamentary  annals,  which  strikes  at  the  root  of  all  mutual  confidence, 
which  is  the  very  soul  of  our  party  government,  and  on  which  only  the 
strength  and  freedom  of  our  representative  institutions  can  be  sus- 
tained." 

Disraeli  replied  to  little  purpose.  The  Bill  passed  the  House  of 
Commons,  and  after  some  amendments  and  characteristic  speeches  by 
Earl  Russell  and  Lord  Derby,  the  Bill  was  adopted.  After  Disraeli's  rec- 
ord on  the  Reform  Bill  there  was  little  else  for  him  to  do  but  to  make 
a  grand  play,  such  as  amused  Great  Britain,  when,  at  the  end  of  the 
year,  he  declared  at  a  dinner  given  in  his  honor  in  Scotland,  that  he  had 
always  been  a  reformer,  and,  above  all,  the  champion  of  the  granting  of 
the  broadest  Elective  Franchise.  He  said  in  explanation  of  his  previous 
history:  "I  had  to  prepare  the  mind  of  the  country,  and  to  educate — 
if  it  be  not  arrogant  to  use  such  a  phrase — to  educate  our  party.  It  is  a 
large  party,  and  requires  its  attention  to  be  called  to  questions  of  this 
kind  with  some  pressure.  I  had  to  prepare  the  mind  of  Parliament  and 
the  country  on  this  question  of  Reform." 

After  all  that  might  be  said  of  Gladstone's  "intellectual  intricacy," 
Disraeli's  cleverness  had  not  kept  him  from  appearing  before  the  coun- 
try as  a  man  who  had  been  beaten  with  the  very  ideas  in  his  keeping 
against  which  he  had  fought  so  long.  Meantime,  on  other  subjects, 


THE  DERBY-DISRAELI  GOVERNMENT.  235 

Gladstone  had  pronounced  strongly.  There  could  now  be  no  doubt 
about  his  position  of  antagonism  to  the  Established  Church  in  Ireland, 
and  he  had  favored  the  opening  of  the  Universities  to  all  sects.  The 
argument  against  the  State  supporting  a  religion  which  in  Ireland  had 
only  a  small  minority,  was  put  by  Gladstone  most  clearly.  Gladstone 
was  already  beginning  to  feel  sure  of  the  bigotry  of  Dissent,  which  saw 
in  the  contest  against  the  Irish  Established  Church  the  appearance  of  a 
"rag  of  Popery."  He  had  been  criticized  by  Tory  gentlemen  because 
he  had  gone  toward  the  "Americanization"  of  England, — and  a  most 
remarkable  specter  was  this!  Now  this  same  timorous  respectability  be- 
held him  adopting  a  course  of  conduct  which  would  ultimately  lead,  they 
thought,  to  the  disestablishment  of  all  kinds  of  privileged  institutions  in 
the  realm.  The  well-paid  Bishops  saw  that  what  has  been  called  "the 
religious  department  of  the  British  Government,"  namely,  the  Church 
of  England,  was  also  threatened,  and  Gladstone's  High  Churchmanship, 
which  had  been  suspected  of  leaning  toward  a  Church  in  absolute  con- 
trol of  the  State,  was  now  sadly  discredited,  for  was  it  not  certain  that 
he  had  acknowledged,  in  a  public  way,  the  valuable  services  of  the 
Dissenters  on  the  Franchise  question,  and  had  he  not  lately  given  an 
address  to  a  body  of  Nonconformists?  Besides,  the  Churchmen  could 
not  forget  that  the  Church  no  longer  had  its  old  hold  upon  the  Univer- 
sities to  the  exclusion  of  Dissenters,  and  Mr.  Gladstone  was  held  in 
blame  for  this  state  of  things. 

Really,  it  was  too  bad  that  all  this  should  be  occurring  at  a  time  when 
Mr.  Huxley  was  writing  review  articles  overthrowing  ancient  dogmas 
and  that  even  Gladstone  could  not  satisfactorily  contend  against  these 
unchurchly  fulminations,  and  Max  Miiller  was  composing  addresses  on 
comparative  religion,  to  be  delivered  within  the  walls  of  Westminster 
Abbey  or  at  Oxford.  No  wonder  Conservative  Churchmen,  well  fed 
and  trembling  for  their  benefices,  looked  toward  the  House  of  Lords 
as  the  only  breakwater  against  such  a  flood.  It  was  not  remarkable,  at 
such  an  hour,  that  one  excited  believer  should  propose  to  call  Omnip- 
otence in  to  protect  the  defense  itself. 

Now  came  a  peripatetic  orator  named  Murphy,  who  led  a  crusade 
amongst  the  lower  classes  against  the  Romish  priests.    It  was  followed 


236  GLADSTONE:  A  BIOGRAPHICAL  STUDY. 

by  the  murder  of  a  man  named  Brett,  and  this  fact  indicated  such  a 
state  of  things  as  would  demand  the  consideration  of  some  scheme 
which  would  make  Fenianism  the  name  of  a  less  dangerous  force  in 
politics.  Not  even  the  trades-unions  question,  which  was  the  cause  of 
a  general  controversy,  could  attract  Gladstone  from  this  subject. 

London  could  hardly  enjoy  Christmas  because  of  the  explosion  at 
Clerkenwell  and  the  revelations  made  by  Fenianism,  and  the  irrita- 
tion it  caused  showed  that  something  must  be  done  immediately  with 
regard  to  removing  the  causes  of  Irish  discontent.  A  Government  was 
in  power  called  the  Derby  Government,  whose  interests  Disraeli  was 
practically  managing,  and  nothing  but  coercion  could  be  expected 
from  them.  On  the  25th  of  February  (1868)  Lord  Derby  had  resigned. 
Disraeli  had  formed  a  new  Administration,  and  now  he  could  look  back 
upon  the  period  when  his  speech  was  received  with  shouts  of  derision 
and  speak  with  his  accustomed  satire  of  those  who  had  laughed  at  him. 
He  had  struggled,  single-handed  and  alone,  from  being  the  despised 
Jew  in  politics  to  a  position  of  glory  and  power.  He  was  now  Premier 
of  the  Realm. 

March  3Oth  Gladstone  moved  the  following  resolution: 

"i.  That  in  the  opinion  of  this  House,  it  is  necessary  that  the  Estab- 
lished Church  of  Ireland  should  cease  to  exist  as  an  establishment,  due 
regard  being  had  to  all  personal  interests  and  to  all  individual  rights  to 
property.  2.  That,  subject  to  the  foregoing  considerations,  it  is  ex- 
pedient to  prevent  the  creation  of  new  personal  interests  by  the  exercise 
of  any  public  patronage,  and  to  confine  the  operations  of  the  Ecclesi- 
astical Commissioners  of  Ireland  to  objects  of  immediate  necessity,  or 
involving  individual  rights,  pending  the  final  decision  of  Parliament.  3. 
That  an  humble  address  be  presented  to  Her  Majesty,  humbly  to  pray 
that,  with  a  view  to  the  purpose  aforesaid,  Her  Majesty  will  be  gra- 
ciously pleased  to  place  at  the  disposal  of  Parliament  her  interest  in  the 
temporalities,  in  archbishoprics,  bishoprics,  and  other  ecclesiastical  dig- 
nities and  benefices  in  Ireland  and  in  the  custody  thereof." 

The  spirit  in  which  the  reform  was  proposed  had  been  revealed  in  a 
debate  on  a  previous  motion. 

"If  we  be  prudent  men,"  Gladstone  said,  "I  hope  we  shall  endeavor, 


THE  DERBY-DISRAELI  GOVERNMENT.  237 

as  far  as  in  us  lies,  to  make  some  provision  for  a  contingent,  a  doubtful, 
and  probably  a  dangerous  future.  If  we  be  chivalrous  men,  I  trust  we 
shall  endeavor  to  wipe  away  all  those  stains  which  the  civilized  world 
has  for  ages  seen,  or  seemed  to  see,  on  the  shield  of  England  in  her 
treatment  of  Ireland.  If  we  be  compassionate  men,  I  hope  we  shall 
now,  once  for  all,  listen  to  the  tale  of  woe  which  comes  from  her,  and 
the  reality  of  which,  if  not  its  justice,  is  testified  by  the  continuous 
migration  of  her  people;  that  we  shall  endeavor  to 

Raze  out  the  written  troubles  from  her  brain, 
Pluck  from  her  memory  the  rooted  sorrow. 

But,  above  all,  if  we  be  just  men,  we  shall  go  forward  in  the  name  of 
truth  and  right,  bearing  this  in  mind — that  when  the  case  is  proved, 
and  the  hour  is  come,  justice  delayed  is  justice  denied." 

He  now  followed  up  his  resolution  by  a  long  discourse,  brilliant, 
learned,  denunciatory  of  the  Irish  Church  Establishment,  and  contain- 
ing such  passages  as  this: 

"There  are  many  who  think  that  to  lay  hands  upon  the  national 
Church  Establishment  of  a  country  is  a  profane  and  unhallowed  act. 
I  respect  that  feeling.  I  sympathize  with  it.  I  sympathize  with  it  while 
I  think  it  my  duty  to  overcome  and  repress  it.  But  if  it  be  an  error,  it  is 
an  error  entitled  to  respect.  There  is  something  in  the  idea  of  a  national 
establishment  of  religion,  of  a  solemn  appropriation  of  a  part  of  the 
Commonwealth  for  conferring  upon  all  who  are  ready  to  receive  it 
what  we  know  to  be  an  inestimable  benefit;  of  saving  that  portion  of 
the  inheritance  from  private  selfishness,  in  order  to  extract  from  it,  if 
we  can,  pure  and  unmixed  advantages  of  the  highest  order  for  the  pop- 
ulation at  large;  there  is  something  in  this  so  attractive  that  it  is  an 
image  that  must  always  command  the  homage  of  the  many.  It  is  some- 
what like  the  kingly  ghost  in  'Hamlet/  of  which  one  of  the  characters  of 
Shakespeare  says: 

"We  do  it  wrong,  being  so  majestical, 
To  offer  it  the  show  of  violence; 
For  it  is,  as  the  air,  invulnerable, 
And  our  vain  blows  malicious  mockery. 


238  GLADSTONE:  A  BIOGRAPHICAL  STUDY. 

"But  sir,  this  is  to  view  a  religious  establishment  upon  one  side  only — 
upon  what  I  may  call  the  ethereal  side.  It  has  likewise  a  side  of  earth; 
and  here  I  cannot  do  better  than  quote  some  lines  written  by  the  present 
Archbishop  of  Dublin,  at  a  time  when  his  genius  was  devoted  to  the 
muses.  He  said,  in  speaking  of  mankind: 

"We  who  did  our  lineage  high 
Draw  from  beyond  the  starry  sky, 
Are  yet  upon  the  other  side 
To  earth  and  to  its  dust  allied. 

"And  so  the  Church  Establishment,  regarded  in  its  theory  and  in  its 
aim,  is  beautiful  and  attractive.  Yet  what  is  it  but  an  appropriation 
of  public  property,  an  appropriation  of  the  fruits  of  labor  and  of  skill 
to  certain  purposes,  and  unless  these  purposes  are  fulfilled,  that  appro- 
priation cannot  be  justified.  Therefore,  sir,  I  cannot  but  feel  that  we 
must  set  aside  fears  which  thrust  themselves  upon  the  imagination,  and 
act  upon  the  sober  dictates  of  our  judgment.  I  think  it  has  been 
shown  that  the  cause  for  action  is  strong — not  for  precipitate  action, 
not  for  action  beyond  our  powers,  but  for  such  action  as  the  opportuni- 
ties of  the  times  and  the  condition  of  Parliament,  if  there  be  a  ready 
will,  will  amply  and  easily  admit  of.  If  I  am  asked  as  to  my  expecta- 
tions of  the  issue  of  this  struggle,  I  begin  by  frankly  avowing  that  I, 
for  one,  would  not  have  entered  into  it,  unless  I  believed  that  the  final 
hour  was  about  to  sound: 

"Venit  summa  dies  et  ineluctabile  fatum. 

"And  I  hope  that  the  noble  lord  will  forgive  me  if  I  say  that  before  Friday 
last  I  thought  that  the  thread  of  the  remaining  life  of  the  Irish  Estab- 
lished Church  was  short,  but  that  since  Friday  last,  when,  at  half-past 
four  o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  the  noble  lord  stood  at  the  table,  I  have 
regarded  it  as  being  shorter  still.  The  issue  is  not  in  our  hands.  What 
we  had  and  have  to  'do  is  to  consider  well  and  deeply  before  we  take 
the  first  step  in  an  engagement  such  as  this;  but  having  entered  into 
the  controversy,  there  and  then  to  acquit  ourselves  like  men,  and  to 
use  every  effort  to  remove  what  still  remains  of  scandals  and  calami- 


THE  DERBY-DISRAELI  GOVERNMENT.  239 

ties  in  the  relations  which  exist  between  England  and  Ireland,  and  to 
make  our  best  efforts  at  least  to  fill  up  with  the  cement  of  human  con- 
cord the  noble  fabric  of  the  British  Empire." 

In  the  latter  part  of  the  year  1868,  after  the  General  Election,  Mr. 
Gladstone  published  his  famous  "Chapter  of  Autobiography." 

He  agreed  that  autobiography  ordinarily  should  be  posthumous, 
but  he  saw  that  the  cause,  namely,  the  Disestablishment  of  the  Church 
of  Ireland,  was  likely  to  suffer  "in  point  of  credit,  if  not  of  energy  and 
rapidity,  from  the  real  or  supposed  delinquencies  of  a  person,"  and  that 
person  was  himself.  He  thoroughly  appreciated  the  heavy  fire  under 
which  the  Liberal  party  was  then  standing. 

But  this  was  only  introductory  to  his  most  skillful  and  elaborate 
defense.  He  referred  to  the  fact  that  he  had  published  a  book  which 
Lord  Macaulay  had  reviewed,  and  that  he  applied  the  theories  of  that 
book  to  the  case  of  the  Irish  Church.  He  knew  the  paradox  which 
confronted  him,  and  says  that  then  he  "erroneously  thought  we  should 
remove  this  priceless  treasure  from  the  view  and  reach  of  the  Irish 
people,"  and  further,  he  then  believed  it  would  be  meanly  to  purchase 
their  momentary  favor  at  the  expense  of  their  permanent  interests,  and 
establish  "a  high  fence  against  our  own  sacred  obligations."  He  pro- 
ceeded to  point  out  inconsistency  and  immoderateness  in  his  book,  and 
to  say  that  the  main  proposition  of  that  book,  "The  State  in  its  Rela- 
tions with  the  Church,"  bound  him  hand  and  foot,  and  hemmed  him  in 
on  every  side.  He  acknowledged  at  once  that  he  had  retreated  from 
an  untenable  position,  and  in  this  Chapter  of  Autobiography  he  pro- 
ceeded to  prove  that  it  was  not  a  sudden  retreat,  it  was  not  "performed 
with  indecent  levity,"  it  was  not  "made  to  minister  to  the  interests  of 
political  ambition,"  the  gravity  of  the  case  was  not  "denied  or  under- 
stated," it  was  not  "daringly  pretended  that  there  had  been  no  real 
change  of  front,"  and  that  many  had  misunderstood  him  and  his  posi- 
tion. 

Never  did  Gladstone  appear  to  better  advantage  than  in  this  in- 
teresting piece  of  literature.  The  whole  domain  of  recent  Church  his- 
tory and  his  personal  relations  to  it,  was  traversed  carefully. 

He  proceeded  to  prove  that  he  did  not  leap  to  the  conclusion  that 


240  GLADSTONE:  A  BIOGRAPHICAL  STUDY. 

the  Established  Church  of  Ireland  must,  at  no  distant  period,  cease  to 
exist  as  an  Establishment.    He  added: 

"I  was  not  sorry,  I  was  glad,  that  while  Ireland  seemed  content  to 
have  it  so,  a  longer  time  should  be  granted  her  to  unfold  her  religious 
energies  through  the  medium  of  an  active  and  pious  clergy.  My  mind 
recoiled  then,  as  it  recoils  now,  from  the  idea  of  worrying  the  Irish 
Church  to  death.  I  desired  that  it  should  remain  even  as  it  was,  until 
the  way  should  be  opened,  and  the  means  at  hand,  for  bringing  about 
some  better  state  of  things." 

He  rehearsed  the  chronicle  of  her  history  and  his  own.  Year  upon 
year  was  examined  and  correspondence  printed  which  showed  how 
continuously  Gladstone's  Liberalism  had  been  growing,  how  certainly 
erroneous  impressions  were  passing  away,  and  how  healthfully  a  large 
view  of  statesmanship  had  developed  in  his  mind.  Solidly  and  bril- 
liantly his  defense  at  last  arose  as  an  argument,  until  his  conclusion 
came  as  follows: 

"An  establishment  that  neither  does,  nor  has  her  hope  of  doing  work, 
except  for  a  few,  and  those  few  the  portion  of  the  community  whose 
claim  to  public  aid  is  the  smallest  of  all;  an  Establishment  severed  from 
the  mass  of  the  people  by  an  impassable  gulf,  and  by  a  wall  of  brass;  an 
Establishment  whose  good  offices,  could  she  offer  them,  would  be  in- 
tercepted by  a  long  unbroken  chain  of  painful  and  shameful  recol- 
lections; an  Establishment  leaning  for  support  upon  the  extraneous  aid 
of  a  State,  which  becomes  discredited  with  the  people  by  the  very  act  of 
lending  it ;  such  an  Establishment  will  do  well  for  its  own  sake,  and  for 
the  sake  of  its  creed,  to  divest  itself,  as  soon  as  may  be,  of  gauds  and 
trappings,  and  to  commence  a  new  career,  in  which,  renouncing  at  once 
the  credit  and  the  discredit  of  the  civil  sanction,  it  shall  seek  its  strength 
from  within,  and  now  at  length  learn  to  put  a  fearless  trust  in  the 
message  that  it  bears." 

Disraeli  read  the  elaborate  essay  and  quietly  remarked:  "Mr.  Glad- 
stone is  an  Italian  in  the  custody  of  a  Scotchman." 


I 

3 


H 

c/: 


CARDINAL  NEWMAN 


CHAPTER  XXVII. 
DISESTABLISHMENT. 

Gladstone  scented  victory  from  the  beginning  of  this  fight.  The 
vote  in  the  House  of  Commons  put  a  stop  at  once  to  the  appointments 
to  livings-in  the  gift  of  the  Government,  and  no  more  vacant  bishoprics 
could  be  filled.  Bright's  speech  in  the  debate  was  so  fine  that  even  the 
"Saturday  Review"  declared  that  no  Liberal  Ministry  could  be  complete 
without  him.  Disraeli  took  an  attitude  of  chivalrous  defense  for  the 
institution,  and  advertised  a  long  and  bitter  struggle.  He  did  not 
know  how  much  he  ought  to  do  in  what  he  called  the  "education  of  the 
party."  Acute  in  all  his  maneuvers,  he  had  fascinated  the  mob  by 
tinsel  and  attracted  the  loyalty  of  the  democracy.  He  was  sparing 
no  expenditure  of  power  to  get  it  into  line  with  the  Conservatives  on 
Church  matters.  Paradoxical  and  satirical,  Disraeli  battled  like  a  glad- 
iator against  threats  of  dissolution,  until,  just  as  he  had  once  adopted 
Household  Suffrage,  he  began  to  make  mysterious  suggestions  after 
his  own  manner  and  in  the  same  direction.  The  conjurer  sat,  relying 
upon  his  hope  that  out  of  the  mass  of  voters  whom  he  had  brought  into 
being  there  had  come  a  new  strength  to  the  Tory  party.  Disraeli's  visit 
to  the  Queen,  which  led  to  the  announcement  early  in  May  that  he 
would  neither  resign  nor  now  dissolve  Parliament,  but  would  hold  on 
until  new  voters  had  an  opportunity  of  expressing  their  opinion,  was  the 
cause  of  unfavorable  comment,  and  it  seemed  certain  that  a  vote  of 
want  of  confidence,  even  though  it  was  advertised  that  the  Queen  pro- 
posed to  have  more  to  do  with  what  Parliament  was  considering  than 
hitherto,  was  likely  to  be  suggested. 

Arthur  P.  Stanley,  now  Dean  of  Westminster,  who  had  been  Glad- 
stone's old  friend  in  the  early  schooldays,  spoke  against  Irish  Dis- 
establishment with  great  force,  though  his  audience  at  last  roared  him 
down.  Disraeli  encouraged  his  followers.  Many  such  men  as  Principal 
16  241 


242  GLADSTONE:  A  BIOGRAPHICAL  STUDY. 

Tulloch  failed  to  approve  the  Gladstone  method.  In  his  journal,  the 
scholar  of  St.  Andrews  said: 

"May  27,  1868:  I  cannot  see,  on  the  whole,  that  Mr.  Gladstone's 
is  a  policy  of  pacification.  The  evils  and  miseries  of  Ireland,  however 
originally  connected  with  the  Irish  Church,  have  undoubtedly  long  since 
extended  beyond  it.  They  are  no  longer  specially  connected  with  it. 
The  disestablishment  of  the  Irish  Church  will  not  very  directly  touch  the 
present  evils  and  miseries  of  Ireland,  while  its  immediate  effects  may  be 
in  some  respects  very  disastrous.  The  Irish  Church  has,  after  all, 
been  a  civilizing  agency  in  various  ways,  and  it  is  impossible  to  doubt 
that  you  cannot  withdraw  this  agency  in  a  sudden  manner  without  cer- 
tain social  evils  resulting.  Religious  parties  will  indeed  be  placed  on 
an  equality,  and,  as  I  think,  a  great  historical  wrong  will  be  expiated, 
because  the  Irish  Church  has  ever  been  a  historical  wrong.  Any  man 
who  goes  into  its  history  will  be  more  and  more  convinced  of  this. 
But  still  the  evil  passions  fostered  by  religious  inequality  will  remain; 
and  I  fear  the  results  of  these  passions  will  be  -  more  disastrous  when 
once  the  controlling  force  of  law  is  withdrawn. 

"Secondly,  Mr.  Gladstone's  policy  appears  to  me  not  so  much  in 
itself,  as  in  reference  to  many  who  are  supporting  it,  to  be  an  anti- 
Establishment  policy,  and  the  probable  result  of  it  will  extend  much 
beyond  what  he  anticipates. 

"It  is  all  very  well  to  say  that  there  is  no  logical  connection  between 
the  Church  of  Scotland  or  the  Church  of  England  and  that  of  Ireland. 
There  is  no  logical  connection;  but  political  movements  do  not  move  by 
logic.  Unquestionably  when  you  think  of  the  principles  that  are  mov- 
ing many  parties  who  strongly  support  Mr.  Gladstone,  you  cannot  but 
apprehend  grave  results  from  them.  As  there  are  dogmatic  State 
Churchmen,  so  there  are  dogmatic  anti-State  Churchmen.  There  are 
men  who  look  upon  the  State  Church  principle  as  an  irreligious  prin- 
ciple, a  principle  for  the  destruction  of  which  they  are  bound  to  con- 
tend. I  think  these  men  are  profoundly  mistaken.  I  look  upon  the 
connection  between  Church  and  State,  rightly  regarded,  as  a  great 
blessing.  .  .  .  It  is  not  my  business  to  indicate  here  what  I  would 
have  considered  a  wiser  policy.  But  I  may  say  frankly  that  my  own 


DISESTABLISHMENT.  243 

view  would  have  been  to  continue  in  a  greatly  modified  and  reduced 
form  the  Established  Church  of  Ireland,  and  apply  its  superfluous  rev- 
enues to  the  general  religious  uses  of  the  Irish  people.  I  know  it  is  in 
vain  to  speak  of  that  in  this  Assembly;  I  know  that  the  very  name  of 
Popery  excites  such  a  feeling  that  it  is  in  vain  to  speak  of  supporting 
it  in  any  shape.  But  nevertheless,  this  has  been  the  policy  of  all  our 
great  statesmen,  the  traditional  policy  of  the  great  political  minds  of  our 
country  since  the  time  of  Pitt;  and  I  believe  that  if  the  feelings  of 
the  country  had  permitted  it  to  have  been  carried  out,  Ireland  would 
have  been  this  day  in  a  state  for  which  every  one  would  have  reason 
to  rejoice." 

It  was  impossible  for  Gladstone  to  avoid  seeing  the  difficulties, 
which,  however,  he  would  grandly  master.  An  idea  of  these  obstruc- 
tions to  his  success  is  conveyed  in  a  letter  of  Lord  Houghton:  "Glad- 
stone is  the  great  triumph;  but  he  owns  that  he  has  to  drive  a  four-in- 
hand,  consisting  of  English  Liberals,  English  Dissenters,  Scotch  Pres- 
byterians, and  Irish  Catholics;  he  requires  all  his  courage  to  look  these 
difficulties  in  the  face,  and  trust  to  surmount  them." 

Dukes  and  earls,  the  Archbishop  of  York,  the  Bishop  of  Oxford, 
and  the  Bishop  of  London,  might  address  public  meetings  to  their 
hearts'  content;  Gladstone  saw  that  the  day  of  his  triumph  was  coming. 
Disraeli  taunted  Mr.  Gladstone's  disagreeing  party  with  conducting  an 
unseemly  fight  over  expected  plunder.  The  excitement  in  the  House 
of  Commons  was  intense,  and  Lord  Derby  was  foolish  enough  to  de- 
clare that  the  House  of  Lords  would  throw  out  the  Bill  if  it  came  up 
from  the  House  of  Commons.  This  was  the  chance  of  a  lifetime.  Of 
course,  Gladstone's  denunciation  was  vehement  and  indignant  and 
crushing.  Disraeli  mysteriously  hinted  that  the  Queen  had  told  him 
something  which  he  could  not  tell,  and  the  conjuror  again  trusted  to 
magic.  He  was  chafed  and  wounded  in  the  eager  assault  of  his  foes. 
The  moral  height  upon  which  Mr.  Gladstone  stood  was  discernible  by 
all,  even  though  he  discharged  volleys  of  wrath  against  the  hollow  Con- 
servatism which  pretended  to  be  wise  and  patriotic.  Disraeli's  position 
was  more  serious,  because  he  was  so  much  alone,  and  he  could  not 


244  GLADSTONE:   A   BIOGRAPHICAL   STUDY. 

afford  to  lose  his  coolness.  He  was  adroit,  subtle,  dexterous,  and  held 
his  ground  with  remarkable  strength. 

Until  July  3 1st  Parliament  was  not  prorogued.  After  an  appeal  to 
the  country,  Disraeli  announced  that  his  colleagues  had  resigned  their 
offices.  The  Queen  summoned  Gladstone  to  Windsor  to  constitute  a 
new  Government.  He  was  at  last  Prime  Minister  of  England,  and  be- 
hind him  was  a  majority  representing  the  sentiments  of  human  progress. 
No  longer  was  he  the  servant  of  Dukes  of  Newcastle  or  otherwhere,  or 
the  voice  of  timorous  and  scholastic  Oxford.  He  had  become  instead 
the  Tribune  of  the  people. 

Gladstone  made  Mr.  Bright  President  of  the  Board  of  Trade,  and 
otherwise  made  himself  strong  in  his  lieutenants.  He  had  announced 
his  purpose  at  least  to  test  Ireland  and  to  demonstrate,  if  possible,  if 
Ireland  could  be  governed  according  to  Irish  ideas.  He  was  met  by 
unsuspected  difficulties.  Three-score  years  had  poured  their  wealth  of 
experience  and  culture  into  him,  and  he  confronted  his  problems  with 
astonishing  vivacity.  By  his  side  was  Mr.  W.  E.  Forster  as  Vice-Presi- 
dent of  the  Council,  as  incessant  a  worker  as  Gladstone  himself.  Many 
of  his  closest  friends  knew  that  the  question  of  disestablishment  involved 
and  would  lead  to  a  consideration  of  the  Irish  problem  in  genera1 

March  ist  had  come,  and  Gladstone  had  introduced  his  measure  for 
the  Disestablishment  of  the  Irish  Church.  So  intense  was  his  thought, 
and  so  impetuous  was  his  stream  of  reasoning,  so  clearly  did  Gladstone 
understand  himself  upon  this  subject,  that  Disraeli,  who  was  accustomed 
to  say  that  Gladstone  was  likely  to  be  "inebriated  by  the  exuberance  of 
his  own  verbosity,"  declared  that  the  oration,  three  hours  long, 
had  not  a  sentence  which  any  thorough  consideration  of  the  subject 
could  have  marked  out  as  superfluous. 

The  proposition  of  Gladstone  was  that  what  had  hitherto  been  a 
State  Establishment  should  become  a  free  Episcopal  Church.  He  con- 
cluded his  speech  in  the  following  memorable  sentences: 

"I  do  not  know  in  what  country  so  great  a  change,  so  great  a 
transition,  has  been  proposed  for  the  ministers  of  a  religious  communion 
who  have  enjoyed  for  many  ages  the  preferred  position  of  an  Established 
Church.  I  can  well  understand  that  to  many  in  the  Irish  Establishment 


DISESTABLISHMENT.  245 

such  a  change  appears  to  be  nothing  less  than  ruin  and  destruction; 
from  the  height  on  which  they  now  stand  the  future  is  to  them  an  abyss, 
and  their  fears  recall  the  words  used  in  'King  Lear,'  when  Edgar  en- 
deavors to  persuade  Glo'ster  that  he  has  fallen  over  the  clifTs  of  Dover, 

and  says: 

"Ten  masts  at  each  make  not  the  altitude 
Which  thou  hast  perpendicularly  fallen; 
Thy  life's  a  miracle! 

"And  yet  but  a  little  while  after  the  old  man  is  relieved  from  his  de- 
lusion, and  finds  he  has  not  fallen  at  all.  So  I  trust  that  when,  instead  of 
the  fictitious  and  adventitious  aid  on  which  we  have  too  long  taught 
the  Irish  Establishment  to  lean,  it  should  come  to  place  its  trust  in 
its  own  resources,  in  its  own  great  mission,  in  all  that  it  can  draw  from 
the  energy  of  its  ministers  and  its  members,  and  the  high  hopes  and 
promises  of  the  Gospel  that  it  teaches,  it  will  find  that  it  has  entered 
upon  a  new  era  of  existence — an  era  bright  with  hope  and  potent  for 
good.  At  any  rate,  I  think  the  day  has  certainly  come  when  an  end  is 
finally  to  be  put  to  that  union,  not  between  the  Church  and  religious 
association,  but  between  the  Establishment  and  the  State,  which  was 
commenced  under  circumstances  little  auspicious,  and  has  endured  to 
be  a  source  of  unhappiness  to  Ireland  and  of  discredit  and  scandal  to 
England.  There  is  more  to  say.  This  measure  is  in  every  sense  a  great 
measure — great  in  its  principles,  great  in  the  multitude  of  its  dry,  tech- 
nical, but  interesting  detail,  and  great  as  a  testing  measure;  for  it  will 
show  for  one  and  all  of  us  of  what  metal  we  are  made.  Upon  us  all  it 
brings  a  great  responsibility — great  and  foremost  upon  those  who 
occupy  this  bench.  We  are  especially  chargeable — nay,  deeply  guilty — 
if  we  have  either  dishonestly,  as  some  think,  or  even  prematurely  or 
unwisely  challenged  so  gigantic  an  issue.  I  know  well  the  punishments 
that  follow  rashness  in  public  affairs,  and  that  ought  to  fall  upon  those 
men,  those  Phaetons  of  politics,  who,  with  hands  unequal  to  the  task, 
attempt  to  guide  the  chariot  of  the  sun.  But  the  responsibility,  though 
heavy,  does  not  exclusively  press  upon  us;  it  presses  upon  every  man 
who  has  to  take  part  in  the  discussion  and  decision  upon  this  Bill. 
Every  man  approaches  the  discussion  under  the  most  solemn  obliga- 


246  GLADSTONE:    A  BIOGRAPHICAL  STUDY. 

tions  to  raise  the  level  of  his  vision  and  expand  its  scope  in  proportion 
with  the  greatness  of  the  matter  in  hand.  The  working  of  our  constitu- 
tional Government  itself  is  upon  its  trial,  for  I  do  not  believe  there  ever 
was  a  time  when  the  wheels  of  legislative  machinery  were  set  in  motion, 
under  conditions  of  peace  and  order  and  constitutional  regularity,  to 
deal  with  a  question  greater  or  more  profound.  And  more  especially, 
sir,  is  the  credit  and  fame  of  this  great  assembly  involved;  this  assembly 
which  has  inherited  through  many  ages  the  accumulated  honors  of  bril- 
liant triumphs,  of  peaceful  but  courageous  legislation,  is  now  called 
upon  to  address  itself  to  a  task  which  would,  indeed,  have  demanded  all 
the  best  energies  of  the  very  best  among  your  fathers  and  your  an- 
cestors. I  believe  it  will  prove  to  be  worthy  of  the  task.  Should  it  fail, 
even  the  fame  of  the  House  of  Commons  will  suffer  disparagement; 
should  it  succeed,  even  that  fame,  I  venture  to  say,  will  receive  no  small, 
no  insensible  addition.  I  must  not  ask  gentlemen  opposite  to  concur 
in  this  view,  emboldened  as  I  am  by  the  kindness  they  have  shown  me  in 
listening  with  patience  to  a  statement  which  could  not  have  been  other 
than  tedious;  but  I  pray  them  to  bear  with  me  for  a  moment  while,  for 
myself  and  my  colleagues,  I  say  we  are  sanguine  of  the  issue.  We 
believe,  and  for  my  part  I  am  deeply  convinced,  that  when  the  final 
consummation  shall  arrive,  and  when  the  words  are  spoken  that  shall 
give  the  force  of  law  to  the  work  embodied  in  this  measure — the  work 
of  peace  and  justice — those  words  will  be  echoed  upon  every  shore 
where  the  name  of  Ireland  or  the  name  of  Great  Britain  has  been  heard, 
and  the  answer  to  them  will  come  back  in  the  approving  verdict  of 
civilized  mankind." 

Disraeli  kept  the  way  brilliant  with  explosive  generalities  and  the 
ground  was  hot  with  his  sarcasm,  which  ran  like  a  fire  amidst  dry  leaves, 
while  he  trained  his  heavier  cannon  upon  Gladstone's  propositions.  He 
talked  about  the  importance  of  religion,  and  handed  out  tawdry  imita- 
tions of  cloth  of  gold  with  commonplaces  regarding  trust-money  and  the 
Protestant  Church  which  he  was  so  heroically  defending,  and  he  closed 
by  reminding  Mr.  Gladstone  of  the  certain  effect  of  this  legislation  on 
the  position  of  the  Church  of  England.  Here  perhaps  he  erred  not. 
The  only  blood  he  now  drew  was  when  he  indicated  that  the  effect  of  the 


DISESTABLISHMENT.  247 

Bill  was  to  give  the  landlords  a  large  amount  of  the  spoils  of  the  Church. 
Gladstone's  proposition  to  spend  this  sum  upon  eleemosynary  institu- 
tions hardly  withstood  the  shock  of  Disraeli's  attack.  The  second 
reading  of  the  Bill  was  carried  by  a  majority  of  118.  Lord  Stanley, 
whose  silence  was  thought  to  indicate  that  he  was  willing  for  a  com- 
promise, gave  England  a  phrase  which  set  many  men  going  about  say- 
ing that  they  were  in  favor  of  "saving  as  much  as  possible  out  of  the 
fire."  At  last  Stanley  spoke  in  excellent  phrase,  offending  the  Conser- 
vatives because  he  went  so  far  from  hereditary  creeds,  and  antagonizing 
the  Liberals  because  he  did  not  follow  the  logic  of  his  convictions  in  the 
direction  of  Disestablishment. 

It  cannot  be  denied  that  the  Irish  people  behaved  badly,  and  that 
fresh  outbreaks  of  agrarian  outrages  annoyed  Gladstone  exceedingly. 
Warren  and  Costello,  two  released  Fenians,  eulogized  the  murder  of 
the  Duke  of  Edinburgh,  and  rejoiced  that  Gladstone  was  going  to 
"abolish  the  Church."  Ireland's  gratitude  to  Gladstone  never  had  a 
very  wise  or  honorable  way  of  exhibiting  itself,  and  just  now  the  Liberal 
leaders  feared  that  Ireland's  agitations  and  repeated  acts  of  lawlessness 
would  create  a  feeling  in  England  which  would  not  permit  justice  to  be 
done  in  the  case  of  the  Church.  Mr.  Gladstone's  associate  in  office, 
Mr.  Forster,  offered  valuable  legislation  to  correct  abuses  which  had 
undoubtedly  produced  barbarism  and  ignorance. 

There  was  one  subject  alone  commanding  superlative  attention. 
Everybody  looked  to  the  House  of  Lords.  The  opposition  had  gath- 
ered again  and  privilege  arrogated  the  right  to  put  down  progress. 
John  Bright  warned  them  of  the  probable  results  of  their  obstinacy.  The 
Bill  passed,  and  July  29,  1869,  saw  the  Irish  Church  disestablished. 

Ireland  had  at  last  gained  the  ear  of  Parliament.  O'Connell  had 
not  prophesied  vainly  and  Ireland  was  certainly  not  likely  to  lose  the 
opportunity,  now  that  she  had  England's  attention  fixed  upon  her.  John 
Bright  suggested  that  they  would  better  hold  a  good  long  session  in 
Dublin,  and  that,  there  and  then,  all  the  Irish  questions  should  be  sub- 
mitted and  Irish  domestic  matters  attended  to  comprehensively  and 
at  once.  The  land  was  reverberating  with  the  cry  from  Ireland  asking 
for  fixity  of  tenure,  and  that  cry  would  have  been  heard  more  certainly 


248  GLADSTONE:    A  BIOGRAPHICAL  STUDY. 

if  there  had  not  come  from  the  same  hot-headed  population  demands 
for  wholesale  confiscation,  and  expressions  of  the  general  expectation 
amongst  the  peasantry  that  things  would  culminate  in  every  Irishman's 
having  a  little  farm  of  his  own. 

Gladstone's  Bill  for  the  reform  of  the  system  of  Land  Tenure  in 
Ireland  was  taking  its  form  in  his  mind,  while  the  landlords,  who  had 
hitherto  been  undisturbed,  were  volcanic  in  their  expressions  of  wrath, 
and,  while  also,  at  a  meeting  in  Ireland  a  tenant  gravely  advocated  the 
British  Government's  providing  every  family  with  enough  free-hold 
land  tc  give  them  support.  John  Stuart  Mill,  Henry  Fawcett  and  other 
political  economists  sought  a  means  of  establishing  peasant  proprietors 
in  Ireland.  A  confusion  of  opinion  reigned;  stormy  seas  were  before 
Mr.  Gladstone.  He  was  meantime  resting  himself  in  reading  the  re- 
views of  his  book  called  "Juventus  Mundi,"  and  entering  into  pleasant 
controversies  as  to  whether  Athene  is,  in  accordance  with  the  idea  of 
Sanskrit  scholars,  The  Dawn;  or  as  to  whether  he  ought  to  have  in- 
sisted, as  he  did,  upon  an  antagonism  between  Pelasgian  and  Hellenic. 
He  followed  this  program  by  bringing  upon  his  head  a  fierce  opposi- 
tion, because,  in  sympathy  with  his  broad  view  as  to  the  functions  of 
the  Church  of  England,  he  had  selected  Dr.  Temple,  one  of  the  essay- 
ists in  the  famously  liberal  book  known  as  "Essays  and  Reviews,"  to  be 
Bishop  of  Exeter. 

Lord  Derby  died  in  October,  and  no  one  regretted  his  loss  more 
than  Mr.  Gladstone.  They  had  studied  together  on  various  topics, 
including  Homer,  and  each  had  been  accused  of  political  inconsistency. 
Their  roads  had  crossed,  for  Derby  had  begun  as  a  Whig  and  ended  as 
a  leader  of  the  Conservatives,  and  Gladstone  had  remarked  upon  his 
consenting  to  the  trick  by  which  Disraeli  caught  the  Tories  who  passed 
so  democratic  a  bill  as  the  measure  broadening  the  Elective  Franchise. 
Lord  Derby,  at  length,  represented  the  fading  yesterday,  as  Glad- 
stone represented  the  dawning  to-morrow.  While  Gladstone  was  seek- 
ing to  put  before  England  so  comprehensive  and  prophetic  a  measure 
as  his  Irish  Land  Bill,  Lord  Derby  was  standing  in  the  House  of  Lords, 
almost  weeping  over  the  resistless  progress  of  the  reforming  spirit. 
Gladstone  had  found  no  easier  way  of  amusing  the  British  public  than 


DISESTABLISHMENT.  249 

getting  into  a  controversy  with  Lord  Derby  on  finance,  for  the  latter 
knew  almost  nothing  of  the  subject,  and  yet  he  was  an  admirable  de- 
bater, and  he  had  what  Gladstone  did  not  possess  in  debate,  a  gay  and 
rich  humor.  Gladstone  and  he  had  furnished  classical  quotations  in 
Parliament,  when  almost  every  one  else  had  forsaken  the  practice  of 
offering  information  understood  by  only  a  few,  and  no  one  more  than 
Gladstone  honored  the  incorruptible  and  brave  gentleman.  Lord  Stan- 
ley, his  son,  was  now  elevated  to  the  House  of  Peers. 

The  spirits  of  Gladstone  at  this  time  reflect  their  light  and  warmth 
in  this  letter  extracted  from  Mr.  Pagan's  delightful  biography  of 
Panizzi: 

"My  Dear  Sir: 

'  'Like  a  good  fellow,'  I  will  certainly  dine  with  you  on  Tuesday,  the 
25th  instant. 

"There  is  an  Italian  opera  buffa,  in  which  a  gentleman  who  wishes 
to  become  a  poet,  and  takes  lessons  as  to  the  mechanism  of  verse  from  a 
poet,  wishing  to  ask  his  master  to  dine  with  him,  tries  to  convey  his  in- 
vitation in  an  hendecasyllable,  and  begins,  'Volete  pranzare  meco  oggi?' 
(Will  you  dine  with  me  to-day?)  but  it  would  not  do,  so  he  changed,  'Vo- 
lete  pranzare  meco  domani?'(Will  you  dine  with  me  to-morrow?)  It  would 
not  do  either,  and  the  poet  suggested  at  once,  'Volete  pranzare  meco  oggi 
e  domani?'  (Will  you  dine  with  me  to-day  and  to-morrow?)  a  very  good 
line,  and  so  it  was  settled.  Now  I  have  made  a  line  for  our  dinner  here, 
of  which  you  must  approve.  'Pranzate  meco  il  ventitre  e  quattro'  (Dine 
with  me  the  23rd  and  24th.)  The  poetry  is  not  good;  have  patience,  and, 
'like  a  good  fellow,'  come  both  days.  Yours  ever, 

"A.  PANIZZI." 

Too  soon,  indeed,  Gladstone  was  to  sit  by  the  bedside  of  his  beloved 
friend,  who  thanked  the  Premier  for  a  friendship  which  forgot  affairs  of 
State  while  he  guided  Panizzi  through  the  Valley  of  the  Shadow. 


CHAPTER  XXVIII. 
TRIUMPHANT   LIBERALISM. 

We  are  now  confronting  an  era  in  Gladstone's  life  and  in  the  devel- 
opment of  the  new  movement  in  English  Government.  Never  did  an 
administration  astonish  a  country  with  such  a  succession  of  nobly  con- 
ceived and  eloquently  advocated  measures  as  was  now  about  to  be  in- 
troduced. Gladstone  infused  his  own  party  with  his  supreme  conviction 
that  these  measures  were  the  logical  outgrowth  of  all  that  the  cen- 
turies of  constitutional  monarchial  government  in  England  had  brought 
forth,  and  the  Liberal  party,  for  the  four  years  following,  caught  and 
reflected  the  luminous  quality  of  his  mind  and  the  magnetic  influence 
which  his  spirit  exercised  upon  all  who  came  in  contact  with  him. 

England's  navy  was  made  more  certainly  mistress  of  the  seas  than 
ever  before.  Gladstone  had  spoken  of  England  and  her  relation  to  the 
sea  many  times.  No  more  significant  words  than  these  concerning 
England's  supremacy  on  the  ocean  have  been  spoken: 

"Shakespeare  saw,  three  centuries  ago,  that  a  peculiar  strength  of 
England  lay  in  her  insular  and  maritime  position.  And  yet  no  long 
period  had  then  elapsed  since  that  little  arm  of  ocean,  which  France  still 
calls  the  Sleeve,  had  been  from  England  into  France,  if  not  from  France 
towards  England,  the  familiar  pathway  of  armed  hosts.  The  prevision 
of  the  poet  has  been  realized  in  subsequent  history.  Three  hundred  more 
years  have  passed;  and  if  during  that  long  period,  we  have,  some  three 
or  four  times  with  no  great  benefit  to  our  fame,  planted  the  hostile 
foot  in  France,  the  shores  of  England  have  remained  inviolate,  and  the 
twenty  miles  of  sea  have  thus  far  been  found,  even  against  the  great 
Napoleon,  an  impregnable  fortification. 

"It  may  be  said  the  case  is  now  different.  It  is;  and  the  differences 
are  in  our  favor.  Now,  as  then,  the  voyage  is  a  danger;  now,  as  then, 
leagues  of  sea,  regarded  as  mere  space,  do  not  yield,  as  an  occupied 
country  may  be  made  to  yield,  the  subsistence  of  an  invading  army. 
Now,  as  then,  the  necessary  operation  of  landing  affords  a  strong  vantage- 

250 


TRIUMPHANT  LIBERALISM.  251 

ground  of  resistance  to  the  defending  force.  Now,  as  then,  the  sea  details 
some  uncertainty  in  the  arrival  of  supplies.  But  now,  as  it  was  not 
then,  maritime  supremacy  has  become  the  proud,  perhaps  the  indefectible, 
inheritance  of  England." 

It  was  not  strange  therefore  that  he  should  introduce  reforms  in  the 
management  of  the  Navy  of  Great  Britain.  Abuses  in  the  Army,  es- 
pecially in  the  direction  of  promotion  to  command  by  purchase  had 
grown  to  be  scandalous  and  chronic.  A  complete  reorganization  was 
made  and  that  system  was  finally  destroyed.  Education  had  its  cham- 
pionship, school-boards  were  established  in  every  district,  and  local 
rates  were  assessed  for  their  support.  A  new  system  of  balloting  which 
put  an  end  to  abominable  corruptions  was  carried.  Liberalism  was  in 
the  plenitude  of  its  power.  We  may  look  at  each  one  of  these  as  a  sep- 
arate point  upon  which  the  genius  of  Gladstone  exhibited  its  strength 
and  luminousness. 

On  the  1 5th  of  February,  the  House  of  Commons  was  crowded 
in  every  part.  It  was  in  the  air  that  a  great  and  definite  step  was  to 
be  taken  that  day,  by  the  leader  of  the  party  in  power,  in  the  direction 
of  constitutional  government.  The  fact  that  this  athlete  was  willing  to 
grasp  so  many  momentous  questions  at  once  amazed  and  delighted 
English  pluck.  He  proposed  his  Land  Bill. 

Whatever  might  be  the  practical  effect  of  the  introduction  of  this 
measure  upon  the  country,  every  well-informed  Englishman  knew  that 
the  hour  had  come  when  a  consideration  of  its  principles  was  likely  to 
commence  working  out  in  Anglo-Saxon  civilization  a  result  unsur- 
passed in  the  history  of  human  political  affairs.  The  principle  of  Glad- 
stone's Bill  was  in  harmony  with  all  the  ideas  which,  from  Alfred  to  Vic- 
toria, had  conspired  to  the  development  of  the  institutions  of  popular 
government.  It  was  impossible  to  look  upon  that  principle  for  a  mo- 
ment without  being  convinced  that  it  was  right,  and  that  the  whole 
system  of  land-holding  in  Ireland  rested  upon  a  principle  utterly  op- 
posed to  it,  and  entirely  wrong.  A  feudal  baron,  whose  personality  had 
shrivelled  in  the  course  of  centuries  now  seemed  to  vanish,  as  the 
theory  that  any  landlord  could  possess  legally  a  limitless  right  over  the 
land  in  Ireland  faded  like  an  ugly  dream.  Before  that  breathless  and 


252  GLADSTONE:    A   BIOGRAPHICAL  STUDY. 

crowded  auditory,  his  face  white  with  the  excitement  of  thought,  his 
eyes  burning  out  with  their  gem-like  intensity  as  he  spoke,  Gladstone 
took  these  relics  of  a  barbarous  past  which  still  lingered  in  the  body  of 
British  law,  and  pulverized  them  to  dust  in  the  presence  of  the  luminous 
statements  he  made,  founded  upon  principles  which  have  provided  the 
foundation  of  modern  statesmanship.  There  has  been  no  better  abridg- 
ment of  Gladstone's  speech  than  that  contained  in  the  history  of  these 
times  written  by  Mr.  Bright's  friend,  Mr.  Molesworth,  and  this  ran  as 
follows: 

"In  the  first  place,"  he  said,  "the  bill  proposes  the  enlargement  of 
the  power  of  the  limited  owner  in  regard  both  to  lease  and  rate.  Assist- 
ance will  be  given  by  loans  of  public  money  to  occupiers  disposed  and 
able  to  purchase  the  cultivated  lands  now  in  their  occupation  where 
landlords  are  willing  to  sell.  Facilities  will  also  be  given  landlords,  by 
means  of  loans,  to  prepare  waste  lands  for  occupation,  by  making  roads 
and  erecting  necessary  buildings;  and  to  assist  purchasers  of  reclaimed 
lands  upon  the  security  of  an  adequate  nature.  These  transactions  will 
be  managed  by  the  Board  of  Works  in  Dublin.  With  regard  to  occupa- 
tion, the  new  law  will  be  administered  by  a  court  of  arbitration  and  a 
civil-bill  court,  with  an  appellate  tribunal  consisting  of  two,  and  in  case 
of  necessity  three,  judges  of  assize;  the  judges  having  power  to  reserve  a 
case  for  a  court  for  land  causes  in  Dublin,  to  be  composed  of  equity  and 
common-law  judges. 

"At  present  there  are  four  descriptions  of  holdings  in  Ireland  which 
I  have  thought  it  my  duty  to  keep  specially  in  view.  The  first  of  these  is 
known  as  the  Ulster  custom.  This  custom,  where  it  exists,  the  bill  will 
convert  into  a  law,  to  which  the  new  courts  will  give  effect.  The  second 
class  of  holdings  are  those  which  prevail  under  customs  and  usages  other 
than  that  of  Ulster;  and  these,  too,  are  to  be  legalized,  subject  to  the 
restriction  that  the  tenant  may  claim  the  benefit  of  them  only  in  cases 
where  he  is  disturbed  in  his  tenancy  by  -the  act  of  his  landlord,  if  he  has 
not  been  evicted  for  non-payment  of  rent,  and  has  not  sublet  or  sub- 
divided his  holdings  without  the  landlord's  consent.  All  arrears  of  rent 
and  all  damages  done  by  the  tenant  to  the  farm  may  be  pleaded  by  the 
landlord  as  a  setoff,  and  the  landlord  may  bar  the  pleading  of  any  such 
custom,  if  he  chooses  to  give  his  tenant  a  lease  for  not  less  than  thirty- 
one  years. 

"Where  the  buildings  are  not  connected  with  any  custom  there  will 
be  a  scale  of  damages  for  evictions.  In  the  case  of  holdings  above  fifty 


TRIUMPHANT   LIBERALISM.  253 

pounds  a  year,  the  parties  may  contract  themselves  out  of  the  scale  oi 
damages,  on  the  landlord  giving  a  thirty-one  years'  lease,  and  under- 
taking to  execute  necessary  improvements. 

"In  cases  of  eviction  the  following  will  be  the  scale  of  damages:  If 
the  holding  is  not  valued  in  the  public  valuation  over  £10  a  year,  the 
judge  may  award  the  holder  a  sum  not  exceeding  seven  years'  rent; 
between  £10  and  £50  a  year,  a  sum  not  exceeding  five  years'  rent;  and 
above  £100  a  year,  not  exceeding  two  years'  rent. 

"In  addition  to  this,  the  question  of  permanent  buildings  and  the 
reclamation  of  land  will  have  to  be  dealt  with. 

"For  the  purpose  of  promoting  improvements,  advances  of  money 
will  be  authorized  to  landlords,  to  enable  them  to  defray  any  charge  raised 
against  them  in  the  way  of  improvement  in  the  case  of  tenants  retiring  by 
an  act  of  their  own.  The  principle  on  which  I  propose  to  deal  with 
improvements  is,  that  they  must  have  a  rentable  value  and  be  suitable 
to  the  holdings,  and  the  burden  of  proof  will  be  laid  on  the  landlords; 
and  the  measure  will  not  be  limited  to  future  improvements,  but  will 
extend  to  those  already  made.  No  claim  will  be  allowed  for  any  improve- 
ment made  twenty  years  before  the  passing  of  the  act,  unless  it  is  an  im- 
provement of  the  nature  of  a  permanent  building,  or  a  reclamation  of 
land;  nor  if  the  tenant  holds  under  an  existing  lease  or  contract  which 
forbids  it;  and  in  the  case  of  past  improvements  the  court  may  take 
into  consideration  the  terms  for  which,  and  the  terms  on  which,  they 
have  already  been  enjoyed  by  the  tenant.  No  claim  will  be  allowed  in 
respect  of  improvements  contrary  to  a  future  contract  voluntarily  entered 
into  by  the  tenant,  and  which  are  not  required  for  the  due  cultivation  of 
the  farm. 

"As  to  lands  under  lease,  a  landlord  may  exempt  his  lands  from  being 
subject  to  any  custom  except  the  Ulster  custom,  provided  that  he  agrees 
to  give  his  tenant  a  lease  for  thirty-one  years;  but  the  lease  must  leave 
to  the  tenant  at  the  close  of  that  term  a  right  to  claim  compensation  under 
three  heads — namely,  tillages  and  manures,  permanent  buildings,  and 
reclamation  of  lands. 

"From  the  moment  the  bill  is  passed  every  Irishman  will  be  abso- 
lutely responsible  for  every  contract  into  which  he  enters.  Non-pay- 
ment of  rent  will  be  held  as  a  bar  to  any  claim  on  the  landlord,  reserv- 
ing, however,  discretion  to  the  courts  in  certain  cases.  Notices  to  quit 
will  have  to  be  for  twelve  months  instead  of  six,  and  date  from  the  last 
day  of  the  current  year;  and  the  notice  must  have  a  stamp  duty  of  two 
shillings  and  sixpence. 

"The  bill  also  proposes  to  deal  with  the  question  of  the  county  cess, 


254  GLADSTONE:    A   BIOGRAPHICAL  STUDY. 

which  it  will  assimilate  to  the  poor-rate.  In  every  new  tenancy  it  will 
have  to  be  paid  in  moieties  by  landlord  and  tenant,  as  the  poor-rate  is 
now  paid,  and  in  every  old  tenancy  under  £4  a  year  the  occupier  will 
be  at  once  relieved." 

At  the  conclusion  of  Gladstone's  exhaustive  speech  on  this  occasion, 
he  met  with  the  most  enthusiastic  congratulation,  even  by  his  foes.  He 
had  redeemed  his  pledges  to  the  country;  the  Tory  had  shuffled  off  his 
Tory  habits  and  become  a  thorough  Liberal.  Oxford  scholasticism  had 
been  consumed  at  last  by  the  fire  of  an  intense  devotion  to  humanity 
and  justice, — the  true  Gladstone  was  delivered — and  he  now  proceeded 
to  overstrain  the  mental  and  moral  machinery  of  John  Bull.  He  was 
irritating  to  the  people  who  wanted  only  a  quiet  and  motherly  family 
physician.  The  "Saturday  Review"  acknowledged  his  genius,  but  said: 

( 

"It  may  also  happen  that  a  doctor  who,  from  his  daring  and  deter- 
mination in  the  use  of  heroic  remedies,  is  especially  serviceable  at  the 
critical  moment  of  a  desperate  disorder,  is  not  -the  best  man  to  do  the 
work  of  the  ordinary  family  attendant,  and  to  deal  with  the  small  ail- 
ments of  everyday  life.  A  weakness  for  heroic  treatment  is  apt  to  become 
a  dangerous  passion.  It  has  more  than  once  happened  that  a  skillful  surgeon 
has  been  suspected  of  a  predilection  for  amputation,  just  as  a  'daring" 
pilot  in  extremity'  has  been  accused  of  whistling  for  a  wind — 

"Pleased  with  the  danger,  when  the  waves  went  high, 
He  sought  the  storm;  but,  for  a  calm  unfit, 
Would  steer  too  nigh  the  sands  to  boast  his  wit." 

Mr.  Forster's  measure  looking  toward  national  education  for  all,  on 
a  plan  which  should  prevent  England  from  lapsing  into  ignorance  as 
she  progressed  toward  Liberal  policies  in  Church  and  State,  became  a 
law.  It  was  perhaps  well  for  Gladstone,  who,  later  on,  had  to  rely  upon 
the  services  of  Dissenters  for  any  sort  of  successful  championship  of  his 
plans  for  Ireland,  that  he  had  comparatively  little  to  do  with  the  man- 
agement of  the  Bill,  and  that  therefore  he  did  not  offend  hopelessly 
the  Non-Conformists  who  were  greatly  annoyed  at  the  attitude 
of  the  Government  toward  their  religious  bodies.  Forster's  Bill 
was  tolerant  of  the  Roman  Catholic  Church  and  her  position  on  educa- 
tion. The  cry  went  up:  "No  State  aid  to  any  but  undenominational 


TRIUMPHANT   LIBERALISM.  255 

schools."  This  cry  was  repeated  most  earnestly  by  the  very  people 
who  were  most  in  favor  of  the  principle  that  a  popular  government 
ought  to  look  out  after  popular  education.  Many  of  Gladstone's  friends 
trembled  for  his  future.  The  Roman  Catholics  never  would  forget  what 
Mr.  Forster  and  Mr.  Gladstone  were  ready  to  do  to  satisfy  their  con- 
sciences, and  it  was  equally  sure  that  a  large  section  of  the  Liberal  party 
called  Non-Conformists  never  would  forget  what  Mr.  Forster  and  Mr. 
Gladstone  failed  to  do  to  satisfy  theirs.  He  was  again  accused  of  being 
at  heart  a  Roman  Catholic.  After  all  the  tumult,  it  became  apparent 
very  soon  that  a  great  step  had  been  taken  by  the  Gladstone  Administra- 
tion in  the  direction  of  intelligence  and  the  safety  of  popular  institutions. 
By  and  by,  doubtless,  the  Dissenters  would  remember,  however,  that 
their  sentiments  had  been  outraged  in  this  matter.  In  the  course  of  the 
discussion  of  Mr.  Forster's  bill  much  bad  feeling  was  engendered.  An 
intense  opponent  averred  that  Gladstone  had  led  one  section  of  the  Lib- 
eral party  through  the  Valley  of  Humiliation,  adding,  "once  bit,  twice 
shy,  and  we  can't  stand  this  sort  of  thing  much  longer."  Gladstone 
was  almost  sublime,  as  he  said:  "I  hope  that  my  honorable  friend  will 
not  continue  his  support  to  the  Government  one  moment  longer  than 
he  deems  it  consistent  with  his  sense  of  duty  and  right.  For  God's  sake, 
sir,  let  him  withdraw  it  the  moment  he  thinks  it  better  for  the  cause 
he  has  at  heart  that  he  should  do  so.  ...  We  must  recollect  that 
we  are  the  Government  of  the  Queen,  and  that  those  who  have  assumed 
the  high  responsibility  of  adminstering  the  affairs  of  this  Empire  must 
endeavor  to  forget  the  parts  in  the  whole,  and  must,  in  the  great 
measures  they  introduce  into  the  House,  propose  to  themselves  no 
meaner  or  narrower  object, — no  other  object  than  the  welfare  of  the 
Empire  at  large." 

If  ever  a  man  found  himself  heavy  laden  with  the  peculiarities  of 
those  who  were  placed,  or  who  placed  themselves,  in  positions  of  in- 
fluence and  trust,  Mr.  Gladstone  had  been  that  man.  He  had  loaded 
up  with  the  prejudices  and  passions,  the  contentiousness  and  bigotry  of 
the  Irish  people,  at  a  time  when  their  liberty  was  in  sight,  and  when 
they  were  most  apt  at  eclipsing  even  their  unenviable  record  as  bellig- 
erents on  general  principles,  he  had  on  his  back  a  crowd  of  his  own 


256  GLADSTONE:    A   BIOGRAPHICAL  STUDY. 

party,  the  Dissenters,  who  were  out  of  sorts  with  him  and  he  soon  had 
another  section  of  Liberals  who  opposed  him  on  another  matter  of  great 
importance. 

There  can  be  no  doubt  that  Gladstone's  eager  nature  looked  forward 
with  much  hope  to  the  abolition  of  the  purchase  system  in  the  British 
Army.  It  was  an  abuse  of  long  standing  and  had  grown  flagrant  with 
the  lapse  of  years.  Officers  dreamed  not  of  such  a  thing  as  promotion 
according  to  merit,  in  the  regular  troops.  True,  there  were  certain 
branches  of  the  service,  and  there  were  certain  regiments  in  which  this 
obnoxious  system  of  obtaining  commissions  and  promotion  by  pur- 
chase, did  not  exist.  But  except  in  a  few  regiments  of  the  army  of 
England,  it  is  now  almost  incredible,  but  it  was  the  rule  that  these  things 
were  practically  on  sale.  A  commission  had  been  bought  and  could  be 
sold  at  an  advance,  just  as  any  other  ware.  The  law  of  supply  and  de- 
mand controlled  the  price  of  the  same,  and  the  Horse  Guards  might 
mention  one  price,  but  if  the  holder  valued  it  at  another,  and  somebody 
wanted  to  remain  in  the  English  Army  with  a  commission,  or  to  obtain 
a  promotion,  as  the  case  might  be,  badly  enough  to  pay  a  very  much 
larger  price,  this  circumstance  fixed  the  sum.  It  was  amazing  to  find 
how  much  of  respectability  arrayed  itself  against  any  change.  The 
haughty  and  influential  classes  had  beheld  Lord  Stanley,  Mr.  Trevelyan 
and  Sir  DeLacy  Evans  laughed  out  of  Parliament,  or  at  least  silenced 
and  defeated,  when,  at  other  times,  they  had  urged  this  reform.  But 
Gladstone  was  determined,  and  his  government  defied  the  aristocracy. 
Never  were  the  drawing-rooms  of  distinguished  members  of  the  Army, 
dukes,  earls  and  the  like,  more  chilly  to  Gladstone  than  when  this  demo- 
cratic idea  stood  on  its  feet  in  Parliament  and  fought  against  caste  and 
privilege  and  corruption.  To  easy-going,  fashionable  gentlemen,  it 
seemed  positively  dreadful  that  a  man  should  have  a  promotion  just 
because  he  merited  it,  or  that  a  nobleman,  who  had  obtained  personal 
property  in  the  form  of  a  commission  in  the  Army,  should  not  be  able 
to  sell  it  just  as  he  would  a  horse  which  someone  wanted  more  than  its 
present  owner.  The  cry  that  this  whole  crusade  was  "another  fit  of 
Americanism  introduced  as  an  abomination  into  English  military  life," 
was  repeated  by  lords  and  ladies,  and  it  was  almost  pathetic  to  witness 


JOHN  BRIGHT 


TRIUMPHANT  LIBERALISM.  257 

the  effusiveness  with  which  men  who  had  never  been  suspected  of  caring 
much  about  "economy  in  governmental  affairs"  pleaded  that  this  meas- 
ure would  take  out  of  the  hands  of  private  dealers  in  commissions  a  kind 
of  business,  the  absence  of  which  would  compel  the  Government  to  give 
compensation  to  the  leaders  of  the  army,  who,  of  course,  now  no  longer 
might  conduct  their  enterprise  of  buying  and  selling  these  wares. 

Gladstone's  government  had  run  up  against  the  terrible  word  "econ- 
omy," and,  as  he  was  unable  to  save  all  the  cargo  of  his  ship,  Army  reor- 
ganization was  thrown  overboard,  but,  with  a  fixed  determination  that 
the  system  of  purchase  should  be  overthrown,  the  Government  carried 
the  Bill  on  the  third  reading  in  the  House  of  Commons,  early  in  July, 
1871.  Of  course  the  House  of  Lords  was  horrified  at  having  to  con- 
sider such  a  measure,  and  fought  it  with  unwonted  strength  and  shrewd- 
ness. Fearing,  however,  the  doom  which  this  persistent  opposition  of 
just  measures  might  invite,  and  which  was  likely  to  fall  some  time  upon 
the  head  of  this  party,  an  amendment  was  shrewdly  invented,  which,  by 
the  efforts  of  the  Duke  of  Richmond,  was  carried,  and  which  relieved 
the  House  of  Lords  of  the  Bill,  for  the  time  being. 

Now  Gladstone  did  a  bold  thing.  He  persuaded  the  Queen  to  cancel 
the  Royal  Warrant  which  made  purchase  in  the  Army  possible  under  the 
law — for  the  truth  was  that  only  under  the  Royal  Warrant  had  the 
system  of  purchase  been  carried  on.  An  annulment  of  the  Royal  regu- 
lation, therefore,  completely  settled  the  question. 

November  ist  came.  The  Royal  Warrant  was  issued,  and  the  House 
of  Lords  had  no  question  of  importance  before  it.  They  passed  the  Bill 
with  a  graceless  and  angry  spirit,  publishing,  however,  the  causes  of 
their  discomfiture. 

Whether  this  was  a  triumph  of  Liberalism,  pure  and  simple,  is  not 
a  question  now,  but  soon  it  became  a  question  in  England.  There  are 
some  victories  which  even  a  Gladstone  may  scarcely  afford.  The  Lords 
had  censured  the  Government  because  it  had  attained  its  end  by  the 
"exercise  of  the  Royal  prerogative  and  without  the  aid  of  Parliament." 
It  was  an  hour  in  which  Mr.  Disraeli's  lofty  sneer  strode  forth  with 
unwonted  vigor,  and  most  fiery  was  his  denunciation  of  the  action  of 

the  Ministry.    Henry  Fawcett,  one  of  the  most  noble-minded  and  capa- 
17 


258  GLADSTONE:    A  BIOGRAPHICAL  STUDY. 

ble  members  of  Parliament,  called  Mr.  Gladstone's  attention  to  the  fact 
that  he  had  done  just  the  sort  of  thing  a  Liberal  Government  ought  to 
condemn.  Doubtless  Gladstone  had  also  played  unfairly  with  the  deli- 
cate lords.  It  was  ungraceful  in  him,  and  unworthy  of  him  to  have 
defeated  them  in  this  manner.  It  might  be  constitutional  and  all  that, 
as  his  adviser,  Sir  Roundell  Palmer,  agreed,  but  Gladstone  had  per- 
suaded Queen  Victoria  to  do  a  thing  in  the  exercise  of  her  Royal  pre- 
rogative which  only  a  Puritan  like  Cromwell,  in  a  different  manner,  or 
a  Royalist  like  Charles  the  First,  in  a  manner  peculiar  to  himself,  might 
have  done.  It  was  all  really  too  bad,  but  it  was  done. 

Gladstone's  Government  could  not  be  blind  to  the  fact  that  this 
was  a  good  time  for  repealing  the  Ecclesiastical  Titles  Bill,  to  which 
attention  had  already  been  called,  as  a  most  ludicrous  and  inefficient 
monument  of  affrighted  bigotry,  emanating  from  the  genius  of  Lord 
Russell  when  the  Protestants  were  in  fear  of  the  Pope's  taking  England 
unto  himself  twenty  years  before.  The  quiet  way  in  which  this  Bill 
was  repealed  contrasted  favorably  with  the  tumult  in  which  it  was 
passed. 

More  important,  however,  in  the  direction  of  true  Liberalism  was 
Gladstone's  position  on  the  University  Tests  question.  It  was  an  old 
question,  and  had  been  discussed  for  many  years  in  England.  Nearly 
forty  years  before,  a  motion  had  been  offered,  asking  leave  to  bring  in 
a  Bill  for  the  admission  of  Non-Conformists  to  both  the  Universities, 
and  Lord  John  Russell  had  spoken  in  its  defense.  From  time  to  time 
this  demand  for  justice  to  Dissenters  had  reappeared,  and  more  than  a 
score  of  years  before,  he  who  was  now  Dean  of  Westminster,  Arthur 
P.  Stanley,  Gladstone's  school  friend  at  Seaforth,  presented  a  prayer 
for  the  appointment  of  a  Royal  commission  of  inquiry.  Commissioners 
were  appointed,  and  a  report  was  made  in  1832.  In  1854  the  recom- 
mendations of  the  commissioners  were  so  far  adopted  that  a  Bill  for  the 
reform  of  the  University  of  Oxford  was  brought  in  by  Lord  Aberdeen's 
Government,  and  one  hundred  members  of  the  House  of  Commons 
prayed  Lord  John  Russell  to  introduce  clauses  abolishing  the  religious 
tests  of  Oxford.  After  repeated  refusals,  and  after  overcoming  great 
difficulties,  in  various  years,  after  incessant  opposition  upon  the  part  of 


TRIUMPHANT  LIBERALISM.  259 

Conservatives,  the  principle  in  Gladstone's  University  Tests  Bill  was 
triumphant  and  Oxford  and  Cambridge  opened  their  doors  to  lay  stu- 
dents of  any  and  every  faith.  Of  course  this  long  step  forward  in  the 
direction  of  pronounced  Liberalism  exiled  from  Mr.  Gladstone  the 
timorous  and  the  unfaithful. 

He  saw,  early  in  his  career  as  Prime  Minister,  that  something  must 
be  done  in  England  to  make  the  ballot  more  sacred  and  effective.  Mr. 
Forster's  Bill,  introduced  February  20,  1871,  was  conceived  upon  the 
philosophy  that  where  suffrage  meant  so  much  as  it  must  always  mean 
in  England,  the  abominations  of  the  system  hitherto  in  vogue  ought 
speedily  to  be  cleared  away.  Bribery  must  be  prevented  and  intimi- 
dation rendered  impossible,  yet  these  outrages  had  been  constantly 
growing  in  English  political  life.  The  Bill  proposed  to  abolish  dis- 
order at  the  time  of  the  nomination  of  candidates,  by  providing  that 
registered  voters  alone  should  nominate  candidates  by  means  of  a  paper 
upon  which  a  proposer,  a  seconder,  and  eight  assenters  had  placed 
their  names.  The  Bill  was  carried,  but  the  struggle  was  intense  and 
bitter.  It  seems  now  almost  incredible  that  such  a  measure  should 
have  been  so  ardently  opposed.  Surely  Liberalism  was  lifting  the  con- 
science of  England  to  unsuspected  heights  of  endeavor.  Gladstone  had 
worked  incessantly  in  the  past  for  a  broader  Franchise.  He  was  now 
convinced  that  if  England  was  to  retain  any  fragment  of  her  power 
as  a  secure  constitutional  monarchy,  voters  must  be  protected  against 
the  emissaries  of  corruption  of  every  sort.  The  House  of  Lords  had 
fought  it,  but  they  had  only  delayed  its  progress.  The  system  of  secret 
voting  commended  itself  to  such  men  as  John  Bright  and  their  follow- 
ers, though  John  Stuart  Mill  opposed  it  on  the  ground  that  "conceal- 
ment is  unmanly."  The  amendment  introduced  in  the  House  of  Lords, 
which  proposed  to  make  the  ballot  optional,  was  thrown  out  by  the 
Commons.  The  privileged  classes  were  determined  that  landlords 
might  still  exercise  authority  over  tenants;  the  House  of  Commons  was 
determined  that  secrecy  should  be  granted  to  the  tenant  and  protection 
as  he  voted.  The  success  of  this  measure  has  laid  the  foundation  for  a 
vast  reform  in  the  electoral  system  of  England. 

Mr.  Gladstone,  however,  was  certain  to  more  truly  offend  the  sensi- 


26o  GLADSTONE:    A  BIOGRAPHICAL  STUDY. 

bilities  of  Conservative  England  in  the  course  of  a  debate  in  which  he 
said  something  on  woman's  suffrage.  It  was  sure  that  this  subject 
would  come  up  after  the  ballot  had  been  so  purged  and  guarded  as  to 
make  a  woman  independent  of  all  influences  whatsoever,  if  she  might 
be  allowed  to  vote.  Gladstone  frankly  said  that  he  did  not  see  any 
harm  in  allowing  women  to  vote.  Toryism  shuddered  at  the  prospect. 
He  soon  had  opportunity,  however,  for  the  proving  of  his  conservatism 
on  other  points. 

It  was  impossible  that  Gladstone  should  succeed  in  the  disestablish- 
ment of  the  Irish  Church,  especially  because  it  was  Protestant,  and  not 
invite  the  activity  of  those  who,  like  the  busy  and  able  Mr.  Miall,  had 
been  thinking  that  the  disestablishment  of  a  National  Church  even  in 
England  might  be  a  good  and  desirable  thing  to  undertake.  So  no  one 
was  much  astonished  when  that  redoubtable  Non-Conformist  offered 
his  motion  to  use  the  policy  adopted  and  executed  on  the  Irish 
Church  upon  the  English  establishment.  Gladstone's  churchmanship 
met  the  challenge  at  once  and  with  unwonted  zeal.  He  warned  the 
belligerent  dissenter  as  to  the  size  of  the  job  he  had  proposed,  and  said: 

The  question  of  the  Irish  Church  sinks  into  insignificance — I  mean 
material  insignificance — beside  the  question  of  the  English  Church.  It 
is  not  the  number  of  its  members  or  the  millions  of  its  revenue;  it  is  the 
mode  in  which  it  has  been  from  a  period  shortly  after  the  Christian  era, 
and  has  never  for  1,300  years  ceased  to  be,  the  Church  of  the  country, 
having  been  at  every  period  ingrained  with  the  hearts  and  the  feelings 
of  the  great  mass  of  the  people,  and  having  intertwined  itself  with  the 
local  habits  and  feelings,  so  that  I  do  not  believe  there  lives  the  man  who 
could  either  divine  the  amount  and  character  of  the  work  my  hon. 
friend  would  have  -to  undertake  were  he  doomed  to  be  responsible  for 
the  execution  of  his  own  propositions,  or  who  could  in  the  least  degree 
define  or  anticipate  the  consequences  by  which  it  would  be  attended." 

The  motion  was  overwhelmingly  defeated.  Perhaps  Mr.  Miall's 
cause  may  also  be  able  to  wait. 

Gladstone's  Government  could  not  forget  the  workingman,  and 
Oxford  was  proven  clearly  right  when  in  1865  she  prophesied  that  this 
statesman  was  really  in  earnest  about  helping  the  unprivileged  majority 
in  England. 


TRIUMPHANT  LIBERALISM.  261 

The  Trades-Union  Bill  was  introduced,  and  laws  which  outraged 
justice  and  imposed  exceedingly  heavy  burdens  upon  the  workingmen 
were  repealed  or  moderated.  However,  Mr.  Gladstone  had  no  Glad- 
stone to  propose  his  Budgets  and  explain  them  in  such  a  manner  as 
to  fascinate,  if  not  thoroughly  inform,  the  waiting  people,  and  he  was 
soon  deeply  embarrassed  by  his  Chancellor  of  the  Exchequer,  Mr. 
Robert  Lowe.  He  could  far  more  easily  bear  such  abuse  as  the  following 
than  the  effect  of  such  a  mistake  as  Lowe's,  for  Gladstone  knew  that 
hate  in  the  breast  of  the  rhymester  had  overshot  the  mark: 

"When  the  G.  O.  M.  goes  down  to  his  doom 

He  will  ride  in  a  fiery  chariot, 
And  sit  in  state,  on  a  red-hot  plate, 

Between  Satan  and  Judas  Iscariot. 
Says  the  Devil,  'We're  rather  full,  you  see, 

But  I'll  do  the  best  I  can; 
I'll  let  Ananias  and  Judas  go  free, 

And  take  in  the  Grand  Old  Man!' 

Gone  from  the  cares  of  office! 

Gone  from  the  head  of  affairs! 
Gone  in  the  head,  they  tell  us! 

Gone — whither,  no  one  cares!" 


CHAPTER  XXIX. 
COMPLICATIONS    AND    PERILS. 

Lowe  was  an  antagonist  or  an  ally  so  brilliant  and  resourceful  at 
many  points  that  his  very  weaknesses  accentuated  his  own  partic- 
ular powers.  He  appears  with  Gladstone  as  a  boy  at  Eton,  and  even 
there,  in  some  fugitive  writings,  he  gave  evidence  of  that  power  of 
statement,  affluence  of  thought,  and  resources  of  almost  vitriolic  sar- 
casm which  served  him  well  as  a  really  great  leader-writer,  if  not  a 
forceful  speaker,  in  later  days.  He  was  a  vigorous  debater  and  an 
indomitable  defender  of  principles  which  he  never  forsook  up  to 
the  last.  Without  oratorical  gifts,  he  yet  wielded  an  opposition  to 
popular  suffrage  with  which  Gladstone  had  to  reckon  whenever  the 
latter  dealt  with  the  elective  franchise.  Tenacious  to  the  last  degree, 
his  contempt  was  visited  upon  the  reformers  who  cared  iot  the  toilers 
and  the  philanthropists  who  sought  legislation  favorable  to  the  poor. 
In  this  year,  as  in  1867,  his  powers  of  acute  thinking,  joined  with  bitter 
invective,  well-nigh  overcame  the  defects  of  weak  and  tuneless  utter- 
ance and  a  somewhat  cold  and  too  literary  manner,  and  no  one  felt 
that  the  most  searching  and  perhaps  impressive  argument  had  been 
made  on  these  questions  until  Lowe  had  spoken.  But  he  now  blun- 
dered, brilliantly  as  was  his  wont. 

He  came  to  propose  a  scheme  to  supply  England's  treasury  with 
the  income,  to  be  received  in  part  from  the  tax  on  matches.  He  cal- 
culated on  550,000  pounds  from  this  source.  His  brilliant  mind  advo- 
cated the  words:  "Ex  luce  luedlum"  as  a  proper  phrase  to  appear  on 
every  match  box.  People  went  about  for  explanation  of  the  phrase. 
It  was  too  much  for  John  Bull's  risibility,  and  while  the  manufac- 
turers of  lucifer  matches  rose  in  opposition  to  the  tax  imposed,  the 
English  people  had  a  good  laugh,  whether  they  understood  the  Latin 
device  or  not. 

No  man  can  well  resist  the  antagonism  of  the  children,  and  Palace 
Yard  wa§  one  day  crowded  with  processions  of  boys  and  girls  whose 

262 


COMPLICATIONS    AND    PERILS.  263 

business  had  been  the  selling  of  matches.  It  was  only  one  of  Mr. 
Lowe's  unlucky  hits.  But  it  did  not  help  Mr.  Gladstone's  Government 
with  a  class  of  people  who  were  likely  to  think  that  Mr.  Robert  Lowe, 
as  a  Chancellor  of  the  Exchequer,  ought  to  have  been  engaged  in 
larger  business.  It  dwarfed  the  size  of  the  whole  administration  in  the 
public  mind. 

When  Lord  Granville  had  succeeded  Clarendon  upon  the  death  of 
the  latter,  June  27,  1870,  he  felicitated  himself  and  the  nation  that 
everything  was  peaceful  in  all  Europe.  Within  two  weeks  the  Franco- 
Prussian  war  had  broken  out,  and  Gladstone's  Government  had  an  op- 
portunity to  prove  its  fidelity  to  the  Premier's  well-known  convictions 
with  reference  to  non-intervention.  The  English  Government  did  all 
that  a  brave,  self-centered  and  successful  political  enterprise  might  do 
to  maintain  and  cultivate  peace.  While  generally  the  people  sympa- 
thized with  Prussia,  one  only  need  glance  rapidly  through  the  news- 
papers of  the  period  to  see  how,  in  spite  of  the  previous  policy  of 
Napoleon,  when  the  Empire  fell,  England  believed  that  Prussia  had 
gone  far  enough.  Gladstone  was  wise,  calm,  pacific,  while  Trafalgar 
Square  rang  with  the  shouts  of  a  sympathetic  multitude  whose  heart 
throbbed  with  France.  On  the  2ist  of  July,  Gladstone  had  told 
England  that  both  of  the  contesting  powers  had  made  assurances  that 
Belgium,  Holland  and  other  territory  should  be  respected  in  their  neu- 
trality, and  he  explained  to  Disraeli  the  efficient  condition  of  England's 
defenses. 

Now  the  sentiment  arose  in  England  that  the  Government  ought 
to  help  the  French  because  they  were  down.  It  looked  at  one  time 
as  though  England  would  have  to  interfere  to  defend  the  neutrality 
of  Belgium.  Mr.  Bright  promptly  placed  his  resignation  in  the  hands 
of  Mr.  Gladstone,  to  be  made  use  of  in  such  a  case.  Gladstone  had 
published  an  important  article  in  the  Edinburgh  Review  on  Germany. 
France,  and  England,  and  it  clarified  the  atmosphere. 

A  Treaty  had  been  made  in  1856,  which  declared  that  the  Black 
Sea  was  open  to  the  ships  of  every  nation,  but  Russia  might  have  upon 
that  sea  only  six  small  ships  of  war  at  the  most.  Prince  Gortschakoff's 
famous  circular,  in  which  the  Russian  Government  announced,  in  the 


264  GLADSTONE:    A  BIOGRAPHICAL  STUDY. 

name  of  the  Emperor,  that  it  would  not  stand  by  the  provisions  of  the 
Treaty  which  at  that  time  were  most  important,  between  France  and 
Germany,  came  to  the  seats  of  diplomacy  in  Europe  with  startling  force. 
England  telegraphed  a  vigorous  protest,  and  Lord  Granville  and  Mr, 
Gladstone  found  themselves  in  firm  association  with  Prussia  and  Aus- 
tria and  Italy  on  this  delicate  subject.  A  conference  of  the  Great  Powers 
was  proposed,  and  its  date  was  delayed  only  until  the  gates  of  Paris  might 
open,  and  the  French  Minister  be  permitted  to  go  to  London  to  attend 
the  meeting.  The  Prussian  Government,  however,  refused  safe  conduct 
for  him,  and  the  conference,  in  the  absence  of  the  French  representa- 
tive, abrogated  that  portion  of  the  Treaty  of  1856  which  made  the 
Black  Sea  neutral,  and  it  permitted  the  ships  of  all  friendly  and  allied 
powers  to  sail  through  the  Dardanelles  and  the  Bosphorus  whenever 
peace  was  threatened. 

Keen  was  the  criticism  of  the  Government  at  this  time.  Sir  Robei . 
Peel  made  England  think  for  the  moment  that  the  Gladstone  Govern- 
ment was  doing  very  little  else  but  venturing,  for  he  read  numerous 
extracts  from  the  foreign  correspondence  in  which  the  word  "venture" 
was  used.  Gladstone's  foes  said  that  this  was  the  Gladstonian  and 
Granvillian  way  of  talking  at  a  thing,  and  all  England  laughed.  It  was 
Peel's  delight  to  call  up  the  shadow  of  Lord  Palmertson,  who  had  a  very 
bluff  manner,  and  England  remembered  Gladstone's  almost  intemperate 
attack  on  Palmerston  at  an  earlier  date,  when  the  noble  lord  was 
coquetting  with  France,  and  England  laughed  again. 

Meantime  Gladstone,  serene  in  the  confidence  of  full  information 
and  adequate  power,  perceived  how  foolish  were  all  these  alarms. 
Punch,  week  by  week,  was  representing  France  as  a  glorious  maiden, 
wounded  and  chained,  and  yet  ardent  with  revenge.  Every  other  nation 
was  as  anxious  for  peace  as  was  England.  But  there  were  hundreds  of 
orators  who  had  caught  Disraeli's  thundering  phrases,  "the  honor  of 
England,"  and  "a  spirited  foreign  policy,"  which  were  but  two  of  the 
high-sounding  bits  of  speech  which  were  passed,  as  by  enchantment, 
from  lip  to  lip.  The  result  of  it  all  was  that  Gladstone's  Government 
was  more  successful  than  it  could  have  been  otherwise,  in  making  effi- 
cient the  British  Army.  "The  honor  of  England"  took  that  turn. 


CHAPTER  XXX. 
THE  "ALABAMA  CLAIMS." 

We  have  spoken  with  the  utmost  freedom  of  Mr.  Gladstone's  failure 
to  understand  the  true  situation,  when  the  war  between  the  States  in 
America  brought  to  the  side  of  freedom  and  republican  government 
not  only  John  Bright,  but  also  Benjamin  Disraeli,  and  led  Gladstone 
to  solemnly  announce  the  breaking-up  of  the  American  Union.  It  is 
pleasant  to  turn  from  that  blunder  of  Gladstone's  to  his  attitude 
toward  America  when  it  was  demanded  of  England  that  settlement 
be  made  for  the  losses  suffered  by  American  commerce  at  the  time 
when  Gladstone's  hastily  formed  opinions  were  so  far  adopted  by  the 
English  people  as  to  permit  the  ravages  of  the  Alabama  and  other 
British  ships.  Never  did  the  Earl  of  Derby  show  his  sagacity  and 
humanity  to  better  advantage  than  when  he  promptly  avowed  his  faith 
that  this  question  might  be  settled  by  arbitration.  Perhaps  the  United 
States  Senate,  which  rejected  Reverdy  Johnson's  scheme  for  a  conven- 
tion empowered  to  settle  this  difficulty,  never  found  itself  legislating  on 
loftier  grounds.  But  it  was  a  time  when  a  little  foolish  talk,  taking  the 
form  of  unnecessary  praise  of  things  English,  offended  men,  some  of 
whose  children  have  since  become  Anglo-maniacs,  and  it  took  the  gen- 
ius of  Motley,  the  historian,  and  the  calm  statesmanship  of  Hamilton 
Fish,  to  properly  renew  negotiations  which  had  thus  been  broken  off. 
Gladstone's  magnanimity  and  honorable  conduct  in  this  affair,  of  course, 
offended  both  the  upper  classes  and  the  rabble  on  the  streets  of  London, 
who  forgot  the  humiliation  and  sufferings  of  the  United  States,  in  a  time 
of  grave  peril,  at  the  hands  of  the  five  privateers  which  roamed  the  seas, 
capturing  more  than  three  score  of  our  vessels,  and  committing  out- 
rages under  the  British  flag,  even  after  the  British  Government  had 
been  warned  by  the  representative  of  America.  For  twenty-three 
months,  at  the  crucial  moment  in  the  life  of  the  American  Republic, 

265 


266  GLADSTONE:    A   BIOGRAPHICAL  STUDY. 

England  had  permitted  the  nefarious  and  outrageous  pursuit  of  our 
vessels  by  her  own.  President  Grant's  stern  will,  demanding  a  settle- 
ment of  the  question,  was  now  allied  with  Gladstone's  equally  indomita- 
ble refusal  to  be  moved  from  a  course  of  justice  by  British  criticism. 
Nothing  could  have  been  more  certain  than  that  Gladstone's  popularity 
at  home  was  to  pass  from  him  rapidly  when  England  was  made  to  admit 
that  the  devastation  caused  by  her  blockade  runners  and  piratical  ships 
was  to  be  regretted.  As  the  Board  of  Arbitration  sat  at  Geneva,  it  was 
entirely  impossible  for  Gladstone  and  the  most  eloquent  and  sincere 
lovers  of  peace  to  get  England  to  perceive  that  a  majestic  era  had  been 
entered,  in  which  the  victories  of  peace  and  arbitration  should  at  least 
equal  those  of  bloody  contention  and  strife.  It  was  nothing  whatever 
to  Gladstone's  foes  that  he  had  avoided  war  with  America,  and  it  was 
of  still  less  consideration  to  them  that  he  had  done  right.  The  confer- 
ence at  Geneva  agreed  that  it  should  be  governed  by  such  rules  of  inter- 
national duty  as  must  always  be  recognized  as  marking  a  new  age  in 
international  politics.  Fifteen  millions  of  money  and  interest  came  from 
England  to  her  wronged  daughter  over  sea.  Nearly  a  decade  after- 
wards, Gladstone  had  an  opportunity  in  the  House  of  Commons  to  make 
reference  to  this  subject.  A  resolution  had  been  moved  demanding  that 
the  British  Government  urge  on  all  the  Great  Powers  "a  simultaneous 
reduction  of  armaments."  Among  other  things  Gladstone  said  this: 

"There  is  a  third  way,  however,  in  which  I  think  it  is  in  the  power 
of  the  Government  to  qualify  itself  for  becoming  a  missionary  for  those 
beneficial  purposes  which  are  contemplated  by  my  honorable  friend — that 
is,  by  showing  their  disposition,  when  they  are  themselves  engaged  in 
controversy,  to  adopt  these  amicable  and  pacific  means  of  escape  from 
their  disputes,  rather  than  to  resort  to  war.  Need  I  assure  my  honorable 
friend  and  my  right  honorable  friend  behind  me  (Mr.  Baxter)  that  the 
dispositions  which  led  us  to  become  parties  to  the  arbitration  on  the 
Alabama  case  are  still  with  us  the  same  as  ever;  that  we  are  not  discour- 
aged; that  we  are  not  damped  in  the  exercise  of  these  feelings  by  the 
fact  that  we  were  amerced,  and  severely  amerced,  by  the  sentence  of  the 
international  trib.unal;  and  that,  although  we  may  think  the  sentence  was 
harsh  in  its  extent  and  unjust  in  its  basis,  we  regard  the  fine  imposed  on 


THE  "ALABAMA  CLAIMS."  267 

this  country  as  dust  in  the  balance  compared  with  the  moral  value  of  the 
example  set  when  these  two  great  nations  of  England  and  America,  which 
are  among  the  most  fiery  and  the  most  jealous  in  the  world  with  regard  to 
anything  that  touches  national  honor,  went  in  peace  and  concord  before 
a  judicial  tribunal  to  dispose  of  these  painful  differences,  rather  than 
resort  to  the  arbitrament  of  the  sword." 

Even  Tennyson  remonstrated  with  Gladstone  and  his  desk  was 
piled  high  with  letters  against  "paying  the  money  to  the  Yankees." 
Peace  herself  might  have  used  Doyle's  words,  and  not  in  vain: 

"One  of  a  long-oppressed   insulted  crew, 
At  length,  dear  Gladstone,  I  appeal  to  you; 
I  do  not  mean  the  warrior  of  the  State, 
Clothed  in  bright  armour  at  the  temple's  gate, 
Set  in  front  of  battle,  to  uphold 
The  truth  that  streams  in  glory  from  of  old; 
To  praise  thy  bearing  in  that  arduous  fight, 
Proud  friends  and  unresentful  foes  unite, 
And  the  hushed  spirits  of  the  future  see 
Even  now,  a  lord  of  humankind  in  thee." 

Now  was  an  excellent  opportunity  afforded  those  persons  who  had 
watched  intelligently  the  development  of  Mr.  Gladstone's  conduct  with 
reference  to  religious  affairs,  to  accuse  him  of  being  secretly  in  league, 
if  not,  indeed,  a  member  of,  the  Roman  Church.  He  had  looked  kindly 
toward  Ireland  and  had  undertaken  the  onerous  task  of  curing  her 
chronic  ills.  A  certain  Mr.  Whalley,  who  was  also  a  member  of  Parlia- 
ment, drew  him  into  a  correspondence  which  is  now  ludicrous  for  the 
very  seriousness  with  which  it  was  conducted,  the  upshot  of  which  was 
that  Gladstone  convinced  England  that  he  had  met  with  no  change  in 
his  faith.  The  cry  of  "Home  Rule  for  Ireland"  was  making  itself  heard 
everywhere,  and  that  Gladstone  was  not  ignorant  of  the  difficulties  any 
reforming  statesman  would  have  on  his  hands  in  trying  to  help  the 
Irish  people,  is  made  evident  by  an  address  he  made  on  receiving  the 
freedom  of  the  city  of  Aberdeen.  He  showed  what  he  and  others  had 
tried  to  do  for  Ireland,  and  he  then  contended  that  Wales  and  Scotland 


268  GLADSTONE:    A   BIOGRAPHICAL  STUDY. 

were  much  more  favorably  placed  than  Ireland  for  demanding  and 
wisely  using  the  gift  of  Home  Rule. 

That  Gladstone  himself  had  not  grown  to  his  full  height  as  a  re- 
former of  abuses  even  in  Ireland,  was  made  evident  by  what  was  con- 
tained in  the  question  he  asked  at  that  time: 

"Can  any  sensible  man,  can  any  rational  man,  suppose  that  at  this 
time  of  day,  in  this  rational  condition  of  the  world,  we  are  going  to 
disintegrate  the  great  capital  institutions  of  this  country  for  the  pur- 
pose of  making  ourselves  ridiculous  in  the  sight  of  all  mankind,  and 
crippling  any  power  we  possess  for  bestowing  benefits,  through  legis- 
lation, on  the  country  to  which  we  belong?" 

The  Treaty  negotiated  by  Mr.  Cobden  between  France  and  Eng- 
land was  now  about  to  expire,  and  Gladstone  was  deeply  interested 
in  what  England  wished  to  do  with  reference  to  the  maintenance  of 
what  had  recently  been  a  warm  friendship.  He  was  all  the  more  inter- 
ested, because  he  was  touched  by  the  pathetic  condition  of  France 
laden  with  unparalleled  debt  and  stricken  to  the  heart  at  the  loss  of 
territory.  No  act  of  his  Administration  is  grander  than  that  contin- 
uous exercise  of  intelligence  and  will  with  which  he  brought  England 
at  last  into  just  understanding  with  the  humiliated  nation  across  the 
Channel. 

Discontent  on  the  part  of  the  laboring  populations,  a  state  of  war 
between  labor  and  capital  in  England,  especially  the  demand  on  the 
part  of  the  toilers  for  shorter  hours  and  larger  wages,  led  to  a  con- 
sideration, upon  his  part,  of  the  causes  for  this  discontent  and  of  possi- 
ble remedies  to  be  suggested.  Both  the  laboring  classes  and  Mr. 
Gladstone  missed  the  presence  of  John  Bright  at  this  time,  who  had 
fallen  desperately!  ill  from  overwork,  and  whose  straightforwardness 
of  character,  coupled  with  his  influence  upon  Mr.  Gladstone,  might 
have  saved  the  latter  from  making  two  appointments — at  least  they 
were  charged  to  him — which  could  not  add  to  his  popularity  amongst 
the  classes  most  anxious  that  privilege  should  not  obtain  over  merit 
in  the  Government.  Sir  Robert  Collier  was  lifted  to  a  position  by  the 
use  of  a  technicality,  and  this  did  not  please  the  common  people  to 
whom  Mr.  Gladstone  had  to  look  for  his  staunchest  friends. 


THE  "ALABAMA  CLAIMS."  269 

A  vote  of  censure  was  moved  in  the  House  of  Lords,  but,  for- 
tunately for  Gladstone,  it  was  rejected.  In  the  other  case,  which  was 
known  as  "the  Ewelne  scandal,"  a  certain  Mr.  Harvey  was  made  a 
member  of  the  Oxford  Convocation  by  Oxford  itself,  for  the  purpose 
of  qualifying  him  for  the  Rectory  of  Ewelne.  These  appointments 
were  unfortunate  incidents  in  the  career  of  the  head  of  a  Govern- 
ment attempting  to  maintain  his  influence  over  English  Liberalism. 

Meantime  he  was  preparing  to  get  everybody  who  cared  much  for 
gin  and  beer  in  opposition  to  him.  The  trade  in  liquors  had  as  much 
hold  upon  England  and  as  much  influence  in  her  politics  as  ever  that 
trade  has  had  in  America  and  that  is  much.  Sir  Wilfred  Lawson,  who 
was  a  man  of  genuine  moral  enthusiasm  and  persuasive  speech,  or- 
ganized an  agitation  whose  end  was  to  give  England  what  we  call  in 
America  "local  option,"  with  respect  to  the  public  sale  of  intoxicat- 
ing drinks  of  every  kind.  It  was  very  certain  that  the  war  against 
drink  in  England  had  revealed  the  fact  that  there  were  many  localities 
which  wished  to  stop  the  traffic  in  intoxicating  liquors  altogether. 
The  Bill  contemplated  an  extra  penalty  for  drunkenness,  and  it  shut 
the  doors  of  gin-shops  and  other  drinking  houses  at  hours  when  they 
had  commonly  been  open. 

Gladstone  had  always  seemed  too  pious  and  upright  for  the  rabble 
to  like  him  deeply.  Besides  this,  he  had  appeared  once  to  favor  the 
upper  classes  in  their  vice,  if  vice  this  might  be  called.  He  had  pro- 
posed legislation  which  allowed  the  people  who  could  afford  to  go  to 
certain  houses  to  drink  wine,  and  he  failed  to  offer  legislation  which 
would  permit  anybody  else  to  have  his  usual  glass.  Now  these  public- 
house  keepers  were  against  him,  and  the  fact  that  the  present  measure 
made  a  wholesale  attack  upon  all  houses  where  drink  could  be  ob- 
tained, led  to  the  massing  of  the  most  reputable  and  the  most  abom- 
inable of  the  liquor  dealers  in  a  league  against  the  Government.  Here 
was  the  very  rabble  to  which  Disraeli  could  hand  a  phrase  accepted 
by  the  upper  classes  in  their  parlors  and  drawing-rooms,  passed  from 
lip  to  lip  by  the  people  who  constitute  "society,"  and  very  soon  the 
English  people,  neglecting  to  look  upon  the  greatness  of  Gladstone's 
aims  and  the  largeness  of  the  results  obtained  in  the  direction  of  pop- 


2;o  GLADSTONE:    A  BIOGRAPHICAL  STUDY. 

ular  freedom,  looked  abroad  and  concluded  that  there  was  no  "spirited 
foreign  policy,"  and  that  the  "honor  of  England"  was  not  being  well 
looked  after. 

Meantime  Gladstone  was  delivering  addresses  on  matters  theolog- 
ical and  literary;  he  had  given  to  the  reviews  essays  of  astonishing 
vigor  and  calm  consideration,  and  he  was  carrying  on  a  large  cor- 
respondence with  men  of  every  class  upon  subjects  of  the  first  im- 
portance to  legislation.  When  he  arose  to  speak  at  the  beginning  of 
his  term  of  office  as  Prime  Minister,  England  remembered  that  he  had 
said  in  the  campaign  leading  to  his  election,  that  there  was  a  certain 
"Upas  tree"  which  had  cursed  Ireland,  and  that  one  of  the  main 
branches  of  this  tree  was  the  system  of  public  education  in  that  coun- 
try. Concluding  the  speech  he  had  said: 

"For  the  House,  for  us  all,  for  the  country,  I  ask  what  is  to  be  the 
policy  that  is  to  follow  the  rejection  of  this  bill?  What  is  to  be  the  policy 
adopted  in  Ireland?  Perhaps  the  bill  of  my  honorable  friend,  the  member 
for  Brighton,  will  find  favor,  which  leaves  the  University  of  Dublin  in  the 
hands  of  Trinity  College,  and  which,  I  presume,  if  passed,  will  only  be 
the  harbinger  of  an  agitation  fiercer  than  that  which  we  are  told  would 
follow  the  passing  of  the  present  bill.  It  will  still  leave  the  Roman  Catholic 
in  this  condition,  that  he  will  be  able  to  obtain  a  degree  in  Ireland  without 
going  either  to  the  Queen's  College,  to  which  he  objects,  or  placing  him- 
self under  examinations  and  a  system  of  discipline  managed  and  con- 
ducted by  a  Protestant  board, — a  board  composed  of  eight  gentlemen, 
of  whom  six  are  clergymen  of  the  Disestablished  Church  of  Ireland.  The 
other  alternative  will  be  the  adopting  for  Ireland  of  a  new  set  of  principles 
which  Parliament  had  repudiated  in  Ireland  and  has  disclaimed  for  Great 
Britain,  not  only  treating  the  Roman  Catholic  majority  in  Ireland  as  being 
the  Irish  nation,  but  likewise  adopting  for  the  Irish  nation  the  principles 
which  we  have  ourselves  overthrown,  even  within  the  limits  of  our  own 
generation.  I  know  not  with  what  satisfaction  we  can  look  forward  to 
these  prospects.  It  is  dangerous  to  tamper  with  objects  of  this  kind.  We 
have  presented  to  you  our  plan,  for  which  we  are  responsible.  We  are 
not  afraid,  I  am  not  afraid,  of  the  charge  of  my  right  honorable  friend 
that  we  have  served  the  priests.  (Mr.  Horsman:  "I  did  not  say  so.")  I 
am  glad  to  hear  it.  I  am  ready  to  serve  the  priest  or  any  other  man  as  far 
as  justice  dictates.  I  am  not  ready  to  go  an  inch  further  for  them  or  for  any 
other  man;  and  if  the  labors  of  1869  and  1870  are  to  be  forgotten  in  Ire- 


THE  ''ALABAMA  CLAIMS."  271 

land — if  where  we  have  earnestly  sought  and  toiled  for  peace  we  find  only 
contention — if  our  tenders  of  relief  are  thrust  aside  with  scorn — let  us 
still  remember  that  there  is  a  voice  which  is  not  heard  in  the  crackling 
of  the  fire,  or  in  the  roaring  of  the  whirlwind  or  the  storm,  but  which  will 
and  must  be  heard  when  they  have  passed  away, — the  still,  small  voice  of 
justice.  To  mete  out  justice  in  Ireland,  according  to  the  best  view  that 
with  human  infirmity  we  could  form,  has  been  the  work, — I  will  almost 
say  the  sacred  work — of  this  Parliament.  Having  put  our  hand  to  the 
plow  let  us  not  turn  back.  Let  not  what  we  think  the  fault  or  perverse- 
ness  of  those  whom  we  are  attempting  to  assist  have  the  slightest  effect  in 
turning  us  even  by  a  hair's  breadth  from  the  path  on  which  we  have 
entered.  As  we  have  begun,  so  let  us  persevere  even  to  the  end,  and  with 
firm  and  resolute  hand  let  us  efface  from  the  law  and  the  practice  of  the 
country  the  last, — for  I  believe  it  is  the  last — of  the  religious  and  social 
grievances  of  Ireland." 

The  year  1873  had  come,  and  Gladstone's  scheme  for  the  settle- 
ment of  this  most  annoying  and  complex  question  was  offered.  It 
was  his  aim  to  unify  and  pacify  the  antagonistic  desires  of  the  Romish 
and  Protestant  populations,  and  to  so  adjust  things  that  there  should 
be  a  University  so  conceived  and  conducted  that  the  convictions  of 
neither  party  would  be  seriously  injured.  Surely  he  might  well  appeal 
to  the  consciousness  of  civilization,  and  ask  if  there  could  be  a  higher 
or  nobler  task  attempted  than  thus  to  nourish  and  enlarge  human  in- 
telligence and  at  the  same  time  to  protect  the  consciences  of  men. 
Irish  Protestantism  again  stood  forth  in  opposition.  Roman  Catholi- 
cism uttered  its  denunciations.  The  Irish  Protestants  wanted  to  retain 
their  University,  which  had  stood  so  long  as  their  safeguard,  and  the 
bishops  of  the  Church  of  Rome  were  not  satisfied  with  what  they  were 
to  obtain  in  exchange  for  what  they  were  to  give  up.  A  short  time 
before,  Mr.  Gladstone  had  made  his  appeal  to  the  people,  and  in  that 
turbulent  auditory — as  large  an  audience  as  he  ever  had  addressed, 
even  in  the  open  air — at  Blackheath,  where  he  wrestled  for  hours  with 
a  mob  hooting  at  the  first,  then  cheering,  then  groaning,  then  storm- 
ing with  approving  applause,  then  howling  with  derision,  he  had  dis- 
cerned the  attitude  of  the  people  of  Greenwich  toward  himself,  his 
methods,  and  perhaps  his  political  ideal.  At  last,  on  that  chilly  Octo- 


272  GLADSTONE:    A   BIOGRAPHICAL  STUDY. 

ber  day,  he  had  conquered  the  audience,  and  he  came  back  home  feeling 
that  the  same  cause  in  its  general  aspects  advocated  with  the  same 
resolution,  argument  and  courage,  would  succeed  elsewhere. 

But  now  Disraeli  unsheathed  his  sharpest  sword,  and  he  was  more 
than  ordinarily  brilliant  in  his  sarcasm  when  he  saw  that  a  large  num- 
ber of  the  Liberal  party  were  arrayed  in  opposition  to  Gladstone,  and 
that  Gladstone's  former  friends,  the  Irish  members,  utterly  forgetful  of 
every  reason  for  loyalty  to  him,  were  shouting  and  voting  against  him. 
Never  was  Gladstone  more  athletic  and  resourceful  in  debate  than  on 
that  night  in  March,  1873.  He  was  badgered  on  all  sides  and  taunted 
by  those  who  had  been  closely  attached  to  him  on  other  measures,  and 
he  was  mercilessly  attacked  by  those  whose  habit  it  was  to  condemn 
unsparingly  his  statesmanship.  Everything  that  he  had  touched  in 
the  last  three  years  was  labeled  that  night  as  a  failure  or  a  curse  for 
England. 

On  January  Qth,  the  Emperor  Napoleon  had  died,  and  England 
had  manifested  a  warm  feeling  of  sympathy  for  the  Empress  and  for 
France,  but  now  the  Treaty  of  Paris  was  heralded  as  a  victory  for 
Russia  with  English  interests  abandoned,  while  the  rise  of  Republican 
France  made  the  haters  of  Republicanism  in  England  more  violent 
than  ever  against  everything  and  anything  in  Gladstone's  career  and 
conduct  which  looked  toward  "the  Americanization  of  the  British 
Isles." 

It  is  hard  to  say  where  things  would  have  gone,  even  before  this, 
if  the  motion  made  by  Sir  Charles  Dilke  in  the  House  of  Commons  a 
year  before,  in  which  that  lively  statesman  proposed  to  inquire  as  to 
how  the  allowances  and  income  of  the  royal  family  were  expended, 
had  accomplished  its  purpose.  As  we  all  remember,  the  Prince  of 
Wales  became  ill,  and  Mr.  Gladstone's  reply  to  Sir  Charles  Dilke,  in 
which  he  vehemently  demonstrated  what  no  one  has  ever  doubted, — 
his  attachment  to  the  Queen  and  her  family,  and  even  to  the  ancient 
institution  of  monarchy  itself, — brought  to  him  the  gratitude  and 
admiration  of  a  large  section  of  people  who  had  begun  to  stray  away 
from  him  and  who  had  foolishly  joined  in  the  old  cry,  that  Gladstone 
cared  nothing  for  English  institutions  and  would  willingly  see  the 


THE  "ALABAMA  CLAIMS."  273 

whole  machinery  go  to  pieces.  Here,  however,  in  the  debate  on  this 
measure  for  the  settlement  of  educational  affairs  in  Ireland,  Gladstone 
was  to  find  that  nothing  (jould  save  the  day.  The  unenfranchised 
classes  in  the  rural  districts  were  heard  from  in  a  singular  way,  for  they 
had  not  gotten  over  their  wrath  at  being  left  out  of  the  functions  and 
responsibility  of  government  by  the  last  Reform  Bill.  But  here  the 
glittering  steel  of  Disraeli  was  backed  by  powers  much  more  demon- 
strative and  serious  than  this.  He  also  had 'felt  the  pulse  of  the  coun- 
try, and  while  he  was  feeling  the  patient's  pulse,  he  had  got  him  on 
his  feet,  and  in  many  places  throughout  the  realm  he  had  organized 
an  opposition  to  Gladstone  and  his  plans  which  now  was  resistless. 
He  made  England  laugh  as  he  spoke  of  his  rivals  under  Gladstone  as 
"a  range  of  extinct  volcanoes."  Master  of.  that  kind  of  rhetoric  which 
is  most  happy  in  opposition,  the  supreme  incarnation  of  a  gravity  upon 
which  his  own  somewhat  gaudy  ornaments  of  speech  appeared  to  be 
gems  indeed,  with  everything  to  gain  and  with  nothing  to  lose,  play- 
ing to  the  classes  most  privileged  on  the  one  hand  and  to  the  classes 
most  hopeless  of  advancement  oh  the  other,  he  enforced  his  criticisms 
with  such  strength  and  certainty  of  stroke,  that  there  was  nothing 
now  but  defeat  for  Gladstone. 

Disraeli  was  soon  sent  for  by  the  Queen,  but,  having  a  minority  in 
the  House  of  Commons,  Disraeli  declined  and  Mr.  Gladstone  was 
persuaded  to  remain  in  office. 

Now,  having  been  wearied  with  arduous  labors  and  feeling  a  de- 
cline in  his  health,  yet  loyal  enough  to  his  Queen  to  retain  office  under 
such  embarrassing  circumstances,  he  saw  Mr.  Fawcett's  measure  for 
dealing  with  the  educational  question  in  Ireland  carried,  and  Mr. 
Disraeli  faltering  as  to  whether  he  dared  go  to  the  country  and  to 
squarely  make  his  appeal  on  the  Irish  University  question.  The  cir- 
cumstances were  such  that  neither  Gladstone  nor  Disraeli  wanted 
office.  The  Fall  Elections  declared  against  the  Liberal  party.  Mr. 
Lowe,  one  of  whose  blunders  we  have  recorded,  was  succeeded  by 
Gladstone  himself  as  Chancellor  of  the  Exchequer  in  his  own  Cabinet. 
At  length  Mr.  Gladstone  resolved  to  appeal  to  the  people.  He  dis- 
solved Parliament.  In  an  address  marvelous  even  for  Gladstone,  he 
18 


274  GLADSTONE:    A  BIOGRAPHICAL  STUDY. 

appealed  to  his  constituents,  but  the  address  was  too  long  for  the 
people  to  read.  Gladstone's  colleagues  opposed  his  action,  and,  this 
fact  being  known,  there  was  a  great  popular  disapproval  of  his  speedy 
resolve,  and  it  was  easy  for  his  foes  to  make  ignorance  and  lawlessness 
agree  that  he  had  proved,  in  any  event,  that  he  was  not  a  statesman. 
The  magnanimity,  the  trust  he  showed  in  people  themselves,  the 
sublime  carelessness  with  which  he  did  the  right — all  of  these  now  were 
made  evident.  The  fight  before  the  constituencies  was  exciting,  tur- 
bulent and  long  continued.  Every  malcontent  in  England,  every 
vested  interest,  every  privileged  class,  every  indolent  aristocrat,  every 
mob-loving  democrat, — the  whole  mass  of  dullness  and  mediocrity, 
ever  strong, — rose  against  the  one  man  who  in  recent  times,  had  led 
England  to  do  a  sublime  thing.  John  Bull  had  been  overstrained 
by  the  earnest  Gladstone.  He  was  weary  of  the  strenuousness  and 
the  heroism  of  this  open-eyed  and  progressive  spirit.  Men  forgot  that 
he  had  brought  to  a  successful  close  the  Ashantee  war,  of  the  very 
existence  of  which  England  ought  to  have  'been  ashamed.  They 
passed  over  the  fact  that  he  had  dealt  wisely  and  humanely  with  the 
famine  in  Bengal,  and  the  countrymen  who  had  been  offended  be- 
cause they  had  not  been  able  to  get  into  step  with  an  ever  advancing 
statesmanship  which  had  so  often  refused  to  honor  their  petty  criti- 
cism, rejoiced  in  the  downfall  of  one  of  the  most  earnest  and  self- 
sacrificing  champions  of  constitutional  government  who  ever  lived. 

Greenwich  placed  him  second  on  her  poll,  for  the  first  man  re- 
turned was  an  inconsequential  distiller. 

If  ever  Gladstone's  enthusiasm  took  possession  of  his  whole  life, 
intellectually  and  physically,  it  was  discerned  in  the  course  of  that 
unmatched  progress  toward  Republicanism  to  which  he  urged,  but 
could  not  lead,  his  party,  between  1870  and  1874.  So  thoroughly 
did  he  seem  to  believe  in  the  capability  of  John  Bull  to  receive  re- 
generating influences  that  when,  in  1874,  after  thirty  years  of  absence, 
the  Conservatives  swept  into  power,  his  confidence  in  principles  stood 
firm,  even  though  his  vision  of  the  fact  stunned  him.  For  these  years 
Gladstone  had  been  running  a  race  with  himself  in  proposing  to 
the  English  people  measure  after  measure  calculated  to  place 


THE  "ALABAMA  CLAIMS."  275 

the  Government  of  Great  Britain  upon  the  broadest  human  foun- 
dation, and  make  her  the  leader  of  the  world's  civilization.  As  has 
been  well  said,  every  one  of  his  measures  was  a  capital  piece  of  legis- 
lation, and  to  have  carried  any  one  of  them  through  would  have  made 
a  man  of  ordinary  genius  sure  of  immortal  praise.  He  had  disestab- 
lished and  disendowed  the  Irish  Church;  he  had  given  to  the  realm 
the  Irish  Land  Act,  in  which  reside  the  forces  of  statesmanship  which 
shall  finally  create  a  truly  united  kingdom;  he  had  reformed  the  abuses 
of  the  Army;  he  had  garrisoned  and  guaranteed  the  safety  and  sacred- 
ness  of  the  ballot;  he  had  given  England  a  scheme  of  education  which 
meant  the  defeat  of  popular  ignorance  throughout  the  entire  realm, 
and,  as  we  have  said,  because  he  had  overstrained  the  capacity  of  the 
English  people  to  accept  and  apply  the  most  important  political  ideas 
of  modern  times,  his  Government  was  overthrown  by  the  Licensed 
Victualers,  and  the  publicans  routed  an  administration  the  most 
mighty  since  the  days  of  the  younger  Pitt.  The  slight  promise  of 
legislation  contained  in  the  speech  from  the  Thrpne  when  Parliament 
was  opened  in  1874,  indicated  how  willing  everybody  was  for  a  rest. 
It  was  the  hour  for  well-groomed  people  to  poke  coarse  fun  at  a 
generous  and  prophetic  enthusiast.  Even  the  "Saturday  Review" 
could  say: 

"Mr.  Gladstone,  in  a  speech  delivered  to  his  Greenwich  constituents, 
extemporized  in  his  well-known  fashion  a  general  proposition  that  Gov- 
ernments always  decline  in  popularity  after  three  years  of  office.  If  it 
had  suited  his  purpose,  he  might  have  accounted  for  the  result  which  he 
acknowledged  without  resorting  to  arbitrary  theories." 

And  that  caustic  sheet  added: 

"It  has  been  said  that  soldiers  prefer  a  leader  in  battle  who  invites 
them  to  come  on  to  one  who  merely  orders  them  to  go  on.  Mr.  Gladstone 
in  a  great  Parliamentary  contest  gives  neither  direction,  but  like  one  of 
his  favorite  Homeric  heroes,  he  prefers  to  fight  alone  in  front  of  his  army." 

This  is  not  fair  to  Gladstone.  His  faith  in  ideals  was  sublime.  He 
was  trying  to  bring  his  army  up  to  the  color-bearer;  he  did  not  and 
would  not  take  the  flag  back  to  the  halting  army. 


CHAPTER  XXXI. 
SEEKING  REST  AND   FINDING  NONE. 

Now  came  the  opportunity  for  Gladstone  to  insist  that  he  had 
earned  the  right  to  rest,  after  a  long  series  of  years  devoted  to  public 
business  and  to  the  proclamation  of  the  principles  of  Anglo-Saxon 
freedom.  His  health  was  certainly  affected,  and  although  he  was  only 
sixty-four  years  of  age,  he  desired  the  companionship  of  his  books, 
the  quiet  of  his  home,  opportunity  for  travel,  and,  above  all,  the 
wide  audience  of  the  world  which  he  might  instruct  and  inspire  with 
his  pen.  He  felt  himself  that  he  had  carried  England  to  a  point  where 
she  might  see  the  promised  land  "of  a  larger  political  life,  and  just  at 
that  moment  England  had  expressed  her  desire  to  return  to  the  flesh- 
pots  of  Egypt.  On  the  i2th  of  March  he  sent  a  letter  to  Lord  Gran- 
ville  containing  these  words: 

"For  a  variety  of  reasons  personal  to  myself,  I  could  not  contemplate 
any  unlimited  extension  of  active  political  service;  and  I  am  anxious  that 
it  should  be  clearly  understood  by  those  friends  with  whom  I  have  acted 
in  the  direction  of  affairs,  that  at  my  age  I  must  reserve  my  entire  freedom 
to  divest  myself  of  all  the  responsibilities  of  leadership  at  no  distant  time. 
The  need  of  rest  will  prevent  me  from  giving  more  than  occasional  at- 
tendance in  the  House  of  Commons  during  the  present  session. 

"I  should  be  desirous,  shortly  before  the  commencement  of  the  Ses- 
sion of  1875,  to  consider  whether  there  would  be  advantage  in  my  placing 
my  services  for  a  time  at  the  disposal  of  the  Liberal  party,  or  whether 
I  should  then  claim  exemption  from  the  duties  I  have  hitherto  discharged. 
If,  however,  there  should  be  reasonable  ground  for  believing  that,  instead 
of  the  course  which  I  have  sketched,  it  would  be  preferable,  in  view  of 
the  party  generally,  for  me  to  assume  at  once  the  place  of  an  independent 
member,  I  should  willingly  adopt  the  latter  alternative.  But  I  shall  retain 
all  that  desire  I  have  hitherto  felt  for  the  welfare  of  the  party,  and  if  the 
gentlemen  composing  it  should  think  fit  either  to  choose  a  leader  or  make 
provision  ad  interim,  with  a  view  to  the  convenience  of  the  present  year, 

276 


SEEKING   REST   AND   FINDING   NONE.  277 

the  person  designated  would,  of  course,  command  from  me  any  assistance 
which  he  might  find  occasion  to  seek,  and  which  it  might  be  in  my  power 
to  render." 

The  Liberal  party  arose  as  one  man,  and  insisted  that  their  Moses 
had  led  them  forth  too  far  from  Egypt  for  them  to  return,  and  now 
were  they  to  be  left  to  die  so  far  this  side  of  Canaan? 

While  the  discussion  was  going  on,  the  Public  Worship  Regula- 
tion Bill,  which  was  aimed  at  the  abolition  of  Ritualism  in  the  Church 
of  England,  was  introduced  by  Archbishop  Tait.  The  old  war  horse, 
Gladstone,  heard  the  bugle  and  the  sounds  of  battle.  He  had  spoken 
on  the  subject  of  Ritualism  elsewhere,  urging  that  ritual  had  its  value 
but  ritual  must  not  be  mistaken  for  holiness. 

The  whole  House  favored  the  Bill.  It  passed,  as  did  the  Ecclesias- 
tical Titles  Bill  of  Lord  John  Russell  many  years  before,  which  was 
tenderly  repealed  by  Gladstone  twenty  years  after  its  passage,  dur- 
ing which  twenty  years  it  had  been  a  dead  letter  in  the  statute-books 
of  England.  And  this  Bill,  which  was  read  the  second  time  in  the 
House  of  Commons,  and  was  so  manifestly  popular  that  Gladstone 
withdrew  his  resolutions  against  it,  was  to  furnish  another  example  of 
the  same  sort.  Meantime,  in  the  Committee,  Mr.  Gladstone  came  into 
hottest  contention  with  the  man  who  had  been  his  Solicitor-General 
a  year  before,  Sir  William  Harcourt,  and  with  two  or  three  strokes  of 
his  sword,  he  laid  Sir  William  low,  after  the  latter  had  poured  forth 
the  following  intemperate  words  with  reference  to  both  Disraeli  and 
Gladstone: 

"We  have  a  leader  of  this  House  who  is  proud  of  the  House  of  Com- 
mons, and  of  whom  the  House  of  Commons  is  proud.  Well  may  the 
Prime  Minister  be  proud  of  the  House  of  Commons,  for  it  was  the  scene 
of  his  early  triumphs,  and  it  is  still  the  arena  of  his  later  and  well-earned 

glory We  may  well  leave  the  vindication  of  the  reputation 

of  this  famous  assembly  to  one  who  will  well  know  how  to  defend  its 
credit  and  its  dignity  against  the  ill-advised  railing  of  a  rash  and  rancorous 
tongue." 

The  ill-advised  Sir  William  had  ventured  to  measure  swords  with 
Gladstone  on  matters  of  ecclesiastical  jurisprudence  and  polity. 


278  GLADSTONE:    A  BIOGRAPHICAL  STUDY. 

Disraeli  proposed  to  go  on  with  a  Cabinet  of  twelve.  He  had 
already  perceived  the  capabilities  and  relied  upon  the  industry  of  Lord 
Salisbury,  who  was  now  in  the  Indian  department,  and  Lord  Cairns, 
with  whom  also  he  had  been  closely  associated  in  debate  and  in  the 
conducting  of  public  business,  was  created  Lord  Chancellor,  and  every- 
body whom  Gladstone  had  ever  offended  by  his  brilliancy  was  made 
peaceful  and  acquiescent  with  the  appointment  of  Lord  Derby  as  For- 
eign Secretary.  It  is  true  that  Salisbury  and  Disraeli  had  quarreled 
years  before,  but  now  the  former  was  evidently  in  training  for  a  position 
which  Disraeli  would  some  day  leave  to  him.  Mr.  Gathorne  Hardy, 
who  now  represented  Oxford  as  Gladstone  did  not  represent  her,  was 
given  charge  of  military  affairs,  and  Mr.  Gladstone's  former  private 
secretary,  who  was  now  Sir  Stafford  Northcote,  and  whose  training 
under  Gladstone  so  well  fitted  him  for  the  position,  was  made  Chan- 
cellor of  the  Exchequer. 

Here  is  an  interesting  page  from  the  Life  and  Letters  of  Dean 
Stanley: 

"Stanley  was  invited  to  meet  the  Czar  at  luncheon  at  Marlborough 
House.  Lord  Beaconsfield,  who  had  lately  become  Prime  Minister,  sat 
in  a  post  of  honor,  whilst  Mr.  Gladstone,  whose  fall  was  still  recent,  and 
who  had  lately  forsworn  public  life,  sat,  in  a  less  prominent  place,  near 
the  Dean.  When  the  company  rose  to  leave  the  luncheon  room,  Mr. 
Disraeli,  as  He  then  was,  came  down  from  his  lofty  position,  and  passed  in 
front  of  the  place  where  Stanley  and  Mr.  Gladstone  were  standing.  He 
turned  to  his  political  rival,  and  said,  in  allusion,  to  the  latter's  absence 
from  Parliament,  with  a  mixture  of  comedy  and  tragedy  expressed  on  his 
countenance: 

"  'You  must  come  back  to  us;  indeed,  we  cannot  possibly  do  without 
you.'  Mr.  Gladstone,  with  more  than  usual  severity,  answered,  'There 
are  things  possible,  and  there  are  things  impossible;  what  you  ask  me  to 
do  is  one  of  the  things  that  are  impossible.'  Upon  this  Disraeli  turned 
to  me,  as  the  nearest  representative  of  the  public  present,  and  said,  'You 
see  what  it  is — the  wrath,  the  inexorable  wrath  of  Achilles.' " 

Mr.  Gladstone  had  indeed  come  back  and  he  had  been  compli- 
mented by  Mr.  Disraeli  upon  his  re-appearance  in  the  House,  when  the 
former  entered  into  the  debate  on  the  Church  Patronage  Bill,  and 


SEEKING   REST  AND   FINDING  NONE.  279 

it  really  seemed  as  though  the  patronage  of  his  rival  was  tempered 
by  kindly  friendship.  Sir  William  Harcourt's  somewhat  extemporan- 
eous erudition  on  Church  affairs  received  serious  shocks  when  Glad- 
stone opposed  the  Bill,  whose  aim  was  to  upset  the  right  of  veto  on 
the  part  of  a  bishop,  and  to  give  to  the  archbishop  in  one  diocese  the 
power  to  begin  suit  in  another.  Salisbury  and  Disraeli  were  making 
things  interesting  as  they  crossed  their  slender  and  brilliant  blades, 
and  the  people  of  England  were  resting  from  the  lofty-mindedness  of 
Gladstone,  while  he  looked  on,  beholding  the  absurd  pretentiousness 
and  utter  uselessness  of  a  measure  which  was  intended  to  put  down 
Ritualism.  The  Ritualists  gathered  around  Gladstone  and  regarded 
him  as  their  savior  and  friend,  though  his  argument  amounted  to  show- 
ing that  they  had  proposed  too  much  of  what  he  thought  a  good  thing. 
Whenever  Sir  William  Harcourt  attempted  to  be  learned  on  ecclesi- 
astical matters,  he  met  the  energetic  Gladstone,  and  his  learning  dis- 
solved into  thin  air.  Gladstone's  manner  was  irresistible,  as  at  one 
time  he  spoke  of  Sir  William  in  the  following  words: 

"I  confess,  fairly,  I  greatly  admire  the  manner  in  which  he  has  used 
his  time  since  Fridav  night.  On  Friday  night,  as  he  says,  he  was  taken  by 
surprise.  The  lawyer  was  taken  by  surprise,  and  so  was  the  professor  of 
law  in  the  University  of  Cambridge;  the  lawyer  was  taken  by  surprise, 
and,  in  consequence,  he  had  nothing  to  deliver  to  the  House  except  a 
series  of  propositions  on  which  I  will  not  comment.  I  greatly  respect 
the  order  and  the  spirit  of  the  order  of  the  House  which  renders  it  irregu- 
lar, as,  in  my  opinion,  it  is  highly  inconvenient,  especially  when  there 
is  no  practical  issue,  to  revive  the  details  and  particulars  of  a  former 
debate.  Finding  that  he  has  delivered  to  the  House  most  extraordi- 
nary propositions  of  law  and  history  that  will  not  bear  a  moment's  ex- 
amination, my  honorable  and  learned  friend  has  had  the  opportunity 
of  spending  four  or  five  days  in  better  informing  himself  upon  the  sub- 
ject, and  he  is  in  a  position  to  come  down  to  this  House,  and  for  an 
hour  and  a  half  to  display  and  develop  the  erudition  he  has  thus  rapidly 
and  cleverly  acquired.  Human  nature  could  not  possibly  resist  such  a 
temptation,  and  my  honorable  and  learned  friend  has  succumbed  to  it 
on  this  occasion." 

It  was  now  a  delight  for  Mr.  Gladstone  to  use  something  like 


280  GLADSTONE:    A   BIOGRAPHICAL  STUDY. 

leisure  in  contributing  to  the  reviews  his  articles  on  ecclesiastical,  lit- 
erary, and  especially  theological  subjects. 

Again  he  tried,  in  the  winter  of  1875,  to  get  the  Liberal  party 
to  release  him  from  leadership.  But  it  was  impossible  to  find  another 
to  bend  the  bow  of  Ulysses.  With  a  sublime  carelessness  as  to  the 
matters  usually  affecting  what  Mr.  Gladstone  has  been  termed, — a 
shrewd  politician, — he  created  a  furore  among  the  Roman  Catholics 
in  his  controversies  with  regard  to  the  Church  of  England  and  the 
Church  of  Rome.  It  was  gravely  insisted  by  those  who  could  not  un- 
derstand Gladstone,  that  he  had  grown  tired  of  the  Irish  cause,  and 
was  willing  now  to  offend  the  whole  body  of  Catholics  wherever  they 
lived. 

He  had  added  to  the  tumult  thus  created,  for  now  he  published 
his  famous  pamphlet  called  "The  Vatican  Decrees  in  Their  Bearing 
on  Civil  Allegiance."  More  than  100,000  copies  of  the  pamphlet  con- 
taining his  vigorous  treatment  of  this  topic,  were  sold  at  once,  and 
an  army  of  controversialists  arose  to  answer  him.  Manning  and  New- 
man drew  their  polished  swords  against  him  with  characteristic  force. 
No  power  of  mind  which  he  had  shown  in  his  handling  of  a  financial 
Budget,  or 'in  his  defense  of  a  great  political  measure,  forsook  him  in 
this  debate.  His  friends  insisted  that  he  was  digging  more  deeply  his 
political  grave  with  every  stroke  of  his  shovel,  though  they  admitted 
that  from  a  literary  point  of  view  the  edge  of  the  shovel  gleamed  like 
gold.  His  enemies,  especially  those  who  desired  him  to  become  as 
unpopular  in  Ireland  as  possible,  were  overjoyed  at  the  fact  that  he 
was  smiting  the  assumption  of  the  Roman  Catholic  Church  to  rule 
in  civil  affairs  hip  and  thigh,  and  rendering  its  position  uneasy,  and  its 
communicants  angry  at  him.  He  paid  no  attention  whatever  to  the 
beseechings  of  his  old  colleagues,  or  to  the  vituperation,  mixed  with 
hilarity,  on  the  part  of  his  foes.  With  almost  unwonted  seriousness 
and  inflexibility,  he  pursued  his  way  serenely.  He  knew  he  was  tread- 
ing a  lofty  "path  which  the  vulture's  eye  hath  not  seen." 


CHAPTER  XXXII. 
GLADSTONE  AND    'THE   MYSTERY   MAN." 

When  Gladstone  was  leading  his  Government  on  the  subject  of 
education  in  1870,  he  met  a  most  heated  opposition  on  the  part  of 
the  Roman  Catholics,  with  whom,  it  began  to  be  said  in  1875,  he 
was  settling  his  account  in  his  controversy  with  Cardinal  Newman, 
and  he  confronted  also  the  Nonconformists,  who,  it  was  hoped,  had 
settled  their  account  with  Gladstone  by  helping  to  overthrow  him  in 
the  General  Election  of  1874.  To  both  of  these  opponents  Gladstone 
had  made  reply  when  he  said  to  the  leader  of  the  Nonconformists,  Mr. 
Edward  Miall:  "We  are  the  Government  of  the  Queen,  and  those  who 
have  assumed  the  high  responsibility  of  administering  the  affairs  of 
this  empire  must  endeavor  to  forget  the  parts  in  the  whole,  and  must, 
in  the  great  measures  they  introduce  into  the  House,  propose  to  them- 
selves no  meaner  or  narrower  object  than  the  welfare  of  the  nation 
at  large."  If  these  offended  parties  had  expected  to  cling  to  Disraeli, 
he  was  ruthlessly  to  disappoint  them.  The  very  constituency  at 
Greenwich,  which  had  refused  to  support  Gladstone,  was  now  angered 
beyond  expression  at  the  behavior  of  him  whom  John  Bright  had 
called  "the  Mystery  Man."  Disraeli  had  not  only  shown  himself  care- 
less, if  not  indolent,  as  to  any  improvement  in  domestic  affairs,  but 
he  had  whiled  away  his  time  and  expended  his  energies  in  showy  ap- 
pearances in  political  debate,  out  of  whose  tumult  came  nothing  but 
vague  and  formless  phantoms.  Disraeli  had  laughingly  said:  "His- 
tory never  repeats  itself!  She  is  the  least  original  of  all  the  Muses, — 
a  spun-out  tautology."  Now  he  was  about  to  furnish  a  strange  com- 
mentary on  this  remark.  The  Oriental  elements  in  his  blood  never 
more  truly  exhibited  themselves  in  his  speech  and  demeanor  than  at 
this  time.  He  strode  on  magnificently,  gorgeous  in  his  rhetorical  ap- 
parel and  confident  in  the  strength  of  the  overwhelming  majority  with 

281 


282  GLADSTONE:    A  BIOGRAPHICAL  STUDY. 

which  he  accomplished  whatever  pleased  him.  Gladstone's  steel 
was  resting  in  the  sheath,  while  he  was  warring  with  his  pen  with  the 
chief  militants  in  the  controversy  in  the  realm  of  theology  and  Church 
policies.  John  Bright  was  laid  aside  by  physical  weakness,  and  the 
world  was  Disraeli's.  His  vast  phrases,  in  which  the  word  "imperial" 
shows  forth  abundantly,  resounded  over  England,  and  a  Jingo  policy 
had  taken  possession  of  the  hearts  and  ambitions  of  his  followers.  Yon- 
der in  Egypt  was  the  Suez  Canal,  the  construction  of  which  the  British 
Government  for  a  long  time  had  antagonized.  Now,  however,  that  it 
had  become  a  fact,  and  that  the  Khedive  of  Egypt  was  in  financial 
straits,  and  nearly  half  of  his  holdings  of  the  shares  in  the  Canal,  which 
amounted  to  nearly  one-fourth  of  the  total  number  of  shares,  was  for 
sale,  Disraeli  bought  them. 

Hardly  a  month  had  passed  away  when  it  was  evident,  in  the  spring 
of  1875,  that  Disraeli's  mysterious  expressions  were  meant  to  signify 
that  somehow  England  had  saved  the  world  from  another  strife  be- 
tween France  and  Germany.  By  the  beginning  of  the  year  1876 
Bismarck  had  shown  the  English  people  that  the  British  magician  had 
really  nothing  to  do  with  such  a  possible  event,  for  war  existed  as  a 
probability  only  in  his  luxurious  imagination.  It  was  necessary  for 
Disraeli  to  make  some  sort  of  show  against  this  disappointment,  and 
Lord  Salisbury  gave  voice  to  the  desire  for  a  new  sensation,  and  again 
mounted  the  old  phrase  of  Disraeli,  which  he  gave  to  the  Electors  of 
Buckinghamshire  in  his  reply  to  Gladstone's  address  to  the  Electors 
of  Greenwich  two  years  before:  "A  little  more  energy  in  our  foreign 
policy,  and  a  little  less  in  our  domestic  legislation."  Disraeli  said  with 
reference  to  the  Suez  Canal  operation: 

"I  have  always  and  do  now  recommend  it  (the  purchase  of  the  Canal 
shares)  to  the  country  as  a  political  transaction,  and  one  which  I  believe  is 
calculated  to  strengthen  the  empire.  That  is  the  spirit  in  which  it  has 

been  accepted  by  the  country They  are  seasick  of  the 

'silver  streak.'  They  want  the  empire  to  be  maintained,  to  be  strengthened; 
they  will  not  be  alarmed  even  if  it  be  increased." 

The  Dock  Yards  were  made  unusually  active.  Estimates  for  the 
Army  and  Navy  were  increased,  and  "the  imperial  instincts  of  the  na- 


GLADSTONE  AND   "THE   MYSTERY   MAN."  283 

tion  were  tempted  forward  into  unwonted  display."  Gladstone  saw 
the  darkness  from  the  East  and  waited.  He  was  not  bewildered, 
though  England  was  bedazzled. 

It  seemed  that  the  old  days,  when  Civis  Romanus  Palmerston 
made  every  Englishman  defiant  of  every  other  country  on  earth, 
had  come  again.  Lord  Derby,  who  never  was  a  great  speaker,  but  was 
regarded  as,  on  the  whole,  the  most  sensible  man  in  England,  had  wit 
enough  to  reduce  a  little  toward  its  proper  form  the  rhetoric  of  Dis- 
raeli with  reference  to  England's  policy  and  to  prepare  for  the  less 
torrid  feeling  of  later  days.  James  Anthony  Froude,  who  often  did, 
in  writing  alleged  history,  what  Disraeli  was  doing  in  practicing  poli- 
tics, was  sent  out  on  a  South  African  enterprise,  the  Prince  of  Wales 
was  sent  as  a  visitor  to  India,  the  emotional  author  of  "Lucille"  was 
made  Viceroy  over  that  people.  More  was  to  follow. 

At  the  beginning  of  January,  1876,  England  looked  upon  the  new 
peers  which  had  recently  been  created.  Mr.  Gladstone  had  added  forty 
peers  in  the  course  of  six  years  to  the  Upper  House,  and  Mr.  Disraeli 
had  created  twenty-four  in  half  the  time,  slightly  outdoing  Mr.  Glad- 
stone, and  taking  a  good  deal  of  effectiveness  out  of  the  charge  against 
the  latter  that  he  had  strengthened  his  party  in  the  Upper  House  in 
this  way.  Disraeli's  mind,  turning  naturally  to  dukes,  was  not  sat- 
isfied with  less  than  three.  When  Disraeli  came  to  handle  the  ques- 
tion of  Pitt's  peerages,  he  said:  "He  created  a  plebeian  aristocracy. 
He  made  peers  of  second-rate  squires  and  fat  graziers.  He  caught 
them  in  the  alleys  of  Lombard  Street  and  clutched  them  in  the  count- 
ing-houses of  Cornhill."  It  was  evident  that  Disraeli  was  likely  to 
eclipse  Pitt  in  his  effort  to  be  strong  in  the  House  of  Lords,  and  he 
had  the  disadvantage  of  having  neither  a  Wellington  or  a  Nelson,  as 
Pitt  had,  for  these  lofty  positions.  Yet,  on  the  whole,  they  were  a 
good  lot  of  men,  harmless  enough  for  promotion,  and  Disraeli  lost 
nothing  by  lifting  them  above  their  fellows.  He  was  soon  to  be  in 
their  company. 

Perhaps  nothing  more  thoroughly  exemplified  Mr.  Disraeli's  love 
of  splendor,  which  fortunately  had  the  effect  of  holding  Gladstone's 
opulent  fancy  more  soberly  in  check,  than  the  former's  proposal  of 


284  GLADSTONE:    A  BIOGRAPHICAL  STUDY. 

the  Royal  Titles  Bill.  Disraeli  had  fascinated  even  the  footlights  of 
the  theater  in  which  he  was  playing,  by  proposing  to  add  to  the  august 
title  of  his  sovereign  an  oriental  and  grandiose  phrase, — "Empress  of 
India."  With  what  Bright  described  as  "a  mixture  of  pompousness 
and  servility,"  Disraeli  waved  off  annoying  questions  with  reference 
to  what  the  Government  had  in  store  and  proceeded  to  prepare  the 
country  for  this  majestic  designation.  While  all  this  charlatanism  was 
going  on,  the  Prime  Minister  had  no  ear  for  the  cry  which  had  already 
pierced  the  scholarly  calm  at  Hawarden  and  found  for  broken  hearts 
an  inimitable  and  chivalrous  champion.  The  contrast  was  complete 
as  the  news  became  more  and  more  sadly  true  from  the  Balkans. 

Disraeli  lost  nothing  by  the  fact  that  he  was  able  to  fairly  crush 
Mr.  Robert  Lowe,  who  made  another  of  his  interesting  blunders  by 
asserting  that  the  Queen  had  tried  to  induce  two  earlier  administra- 
tions to  add  this  title  to  her  already  august  name.  Lord  Hartington, 
the  somewhat  heavy  and  always  slow-going  leader  of  the  Liberal 
party,  could  not  even  apologize  for  the  interesting  mistake. 

And  now  the  figure  of  Russia  arose,  dread  and  specter-like  as 
ever,  when  she  appeared  before  the  mind  of  England.  It  was  true 
that  Turkey  had  proved  reactionary  and  had  refused  every  suggestion 
of  progress.  Insurrections  had  followed  upon  outrageous  misgovern- 
ment,  and  while  blood  was  shed  freely,  Turkey  became  more  barbarous 
and  cruel.  There  could  be  no  question  in  the  mind  of  England, 
however,  because  England's  mind  had  a  constitutional  and  chronic 
fear  of  the  effect  of  Russia's  ambition,  that  Russia  now,  having  gone 
further  into  Asia  with  her  territorial  lines,  meant  to  take  advantage  of 
the  situation  in  Turkey  and  of  the  revolts  which  followed  one  another 
incessantly  and  build  a  new  future  for  herself,  doubtless  on  the  ruins  of 
the  Ottoman  Government.  In  Herzegovina  and  Bosnia  insurrections 
had  broken  out.  The  Government  at  Constantinople  complained  that 
the  first  insurrection  had  been  aided  by  Russia  and  Montenegro,  as  well 
as,  perhaps,  by  Austrians  and  Servians.  Lord  Derby  was  cautious  and 
procrastinating,  if  not  weak,  and  he  did  not  opportunely  answer  the 
appeal  made  to  the  Government  of  England  that  it  should  urge 
Austria  to  refuse  help.  Finally  the  Austrian  minister  formulated  a 


GLADSTONE  AND   "THE   MYSTERY   MAN."          285 

declaration  that  it  was  time  for  the  Porte  to  interfere  and  compel 
Turkey  to  change  her  course.  He  was  right  in  saying  that  Servia 
and  Montenegro  could  no  longer  be  resisted  in  their  desire  to  take  a 
hand  in  the  insurrection.  In  this  plan  of  Count  Andrassy,  Italy  and 
France  were  ready  to  join,  but  Lord  Derby  was  silent,  until  the  Porte 
itself  actually  besought  the  English  Government  to  unite  with  the 
others. 

By  this  time  Turkey  came  to  believe  that  England  was  on  her 
side,  and,  although  the  note  which  England  finally  signed  with  the 
rest  of  the  powers,  was  irritating,  Turkey  made  some  excellent  prom- 
ises which  were  capable  of  being  twisted  into  meaningless  assertions 
by  Oriental  craft.  A  meeting  of  the  Powers  was  proposed.  The 
Berlin  Memorandum  came,  and  Turkey  was  told  that  unless  these 
promises  were  speedily  redeemed^  combined  action  on  the  part  of 
the  Powers  might  be  expected.  Again  Lord  Derby  hesitated  about 
joining  in  the  Berlin  Memorandum.  England  naturally  believed  that 
Russia  was  behind  this  whole  enterprise,  stirring  up  a  religious  war,  if 
such  a  thing  were  possible,  in  order  that  she  might  seize  more  valu- 
able territory.  Turkey  took  hope  at  this,  even  though  her  Sultan 
had  outdazzled  Disraeli's  Orientalism  when  he  was  received  in  London, 
and  had  ended  his  career  by  taking  his  own  life,  after  having  been 
dethroned. 

At  this  moment  there  broke  forth  in  Bulgaria  a  powerful  insur- 
rection. It  was  a  noble  rebellion  against  intolerable  tyranny.  It  was 
met  by  incredible  violence,  and  hideous  massacre  reigned  in  the 
Balkans.  Disraeli  had  flashed  in  a  most  spectacular  manner,  when 
he  told  Parliament  that  the  English  Government  would  have  nothing 
to  do  with  the  Berlin  Memorandum.  Now  stories  came  to  London 
of  unparalleled  suffering  and  crime,  led  on  by  the  Turkish  Govern- 
ment against  the  Bulgarians,  while  the  British  fleet  was  said  to  be 
moving  toward  Besika  Bay.  The  "spirited  foreign  policy"  was  certainly 
brilliant  and  bloody  enough  in  its  undoing.  Hate  of  Russia,  the 
stupid  reiteration  of  the  word  "imperial"  to  England's  bewildered 
mind,  fascinated  as  it  was  for  a  moment  by  the  glitter  of  Disraeli's 
rhetoric  and  promises,  could  not,  however,  stop  the  ear  of  humanity. 


286  GLADSTONE:    A  BIOGRAPHICAL  STUDY. 

The  Daily  News,  which  was  a  Liberal  organ,  and,  therefore,  was  not  to 
be  regarded,  much  less  believed,  by  a  Tory  such  as  Mr.  Disraeli,  poured 
upon  the  Government  information  which  the  Government  would  not 
heed,  but  which  revealed  a  chapter  of  atrocities  unparalleled  in  the 
history  of  the  race.  Never  was  there  an  hour  when  civilization,  shud- 
dering at  horrible  and  wholesale  murders,  bound  by  an  ambitious  and 
apparently  heartless  Government,  so  needed  a  heroic  hand  to  loose 
her  that  she  might  deal  justly  with  insensate  barbarism. 


CHAPTER  XXXIII. 
THE  KNIGHT  ERRANT. 

Sitting  in  Hawarden  Castle  and  'poring  over  the  Iliad  of  Homer 
or  the  Analogy  of  Bishop  Butler,  or  felling  great  oaks  in  Hawarden 
Forest,  or  reading  the  lessons,  as  was  his  custom,  in  the  morning 
service  at  the  parish  church,  entertaining  distinguished  artists,  illus- 
trious poets,  or  eminent  theologians,  the  stalwart  spirit  of  Gladstone 
could  not  be  satisfied  or  acquiescent.  He  heard  the  cry  of  beleaguered 
and  outraged  humanity,  and  while  the  words  of  Disraeli  describing  the 
reports  of  these  atrocities  as  "coffee-house  babble"  were  still  defiling 
the  air  of  St.  Stephens,  and  while  London  was  reading  with  emo- 
tions of  horror  the  report  of  the  English  Consul  confirming  previous 
statements  as  to  the  shameless  crimes  of  the  Bashi-Bazouks,  Gladstone 
suddenly  made  his  appearance  in  the  House  of  Commons.  An  impe- 
rialism of  genius  utterly  unlike  that  of  Disraeli's  rhetoric,  a  profound 
faith  in  justice,  triumphantly  glowing  in  his  face,  and  a  sublime  pas- 
sion for  righteousness  beamingfrom  those  deep-lit  eyes,  took  possession 
of  the  House,  while  a  stream  of  fiery  eloquence  poured  from  his 
agitated  soul.  Every  facility  which  his  eloquent  tongue  and  scarcely 
less  eloquent  pen  might  employ  was  used  in  the  unparalleled  crusade. 
A  Saint  Bernard  spoke  again.  He  organized  and  led  against  the 
policy  which  now  stood  revealed  in  all  its  satanic  features,  as  the 
merciless  light  of  Gladstone's  mind  and  conscience  played  upon  it. 
He  was  called  sentimental,  and  he  was  said  to  be  preaching  "Sunday- 
school  politics."  Once  on  a  time  an  excellent  Bishop  had  been  ex- 
pected to  address,  on  an  important  occasion,  a  distinguished  body 
of  students  at  King's  College,  but  failed  to  appear;  Mr.  Gladstone 
supplied  for  him,  as  we  would  say,  and  proved  himself  a  preacher 
indeed  who  might  have  rivaled  Jeremy  Taylor  or  Canon  Liddon. 
Now,  however,  Gladstone's  eloquence  was  like  that  of  Savonorola  of 

287 


288  GLADSTONE:    A  BIOGRAPHICAL  STUDY. 

Florence  in  which  the  crown  of  Lorenzo  de  Medici  was  consumed. 
Speech  followed  speech,  monster  meetings  succeeded  an  address  of 
denunciation  in  the  House  of  Commons,  and  the  realm  trembled  under 
the  spell  of  his  genius.  He  was  called  "the  friend  of  Russia,"  which 
has  always  been  enough,  in  England,  to  condemn  an  archangel.  In 
the  midst  of  his  crusade  he  had  talked  intemperately,  some  of  his 
friends  said,  and  many  were  led  to  believe  that  he  wanted  the  Turks, 
men,  women  and  children,  thrown  bodily  out  of  Europe.  A  reaction 
sprung  up.  Disraeli  attitudinized  as  the  only  friend  of  England's 
foreign  or  domestic  interests.  He  stood  in  the  House  of  Commons 
one  day,  directing  his  stinging  arrows  at  Gladstone  the  Crusader,  and 
poured  a  torrent  of  scorn  and  ridicule  upon  the  opponents  of  his  own 
Government.  Next  day  he  was  a  member  of  the  House  of  Lords, 
and  had  entered  a  new  era  in  his  history  as  the  Earl  of  Beaconsfield. 

Still,  however,  Gladstone's  appeal  was  echoed  and  re-echoed 
throughout  the  realm.  He  said: 

"I  am  far  from  supposing — I  am  not  such  a  dreamer  as  to  suppose  that 
Russia,  more  than  any  other  country,  is  exempt  from  selfishness  and  ambi- 
tion. But  she  has  also  within  her,  like  other  countries,  the  pulse  of 
humanity,  and,  for  my  own  part,  I  believe  it  is  the  pulse  of  humanity  which 
is  now  throbbing  almost  ungovernably  in  her  people.  Upon  the  concord 
and  hearty  co-operation — not  upon  a  mere  hollow  truce  between  England 
and  Russia,  but  upon  their  concord  and  hearty,  cordial  co-operation — 
depend  a  good  settlement  of  this  question.  Their  power  is  immense. 
The  power  of  Russia  by  land  for  acting  upon  these  countries  as  against 
Turkey  is  perfectly  resistless;  the  power  of  England  by  sea  is  scarcely 
less  important  at  this  moment.  For  I  ask  you  what  would  be  the  condi- 
tion of  the  Turkish  armies  if  the  British  Admiral  now  in  Besika  Bay  were 
to  inform  the  Government  of  Constantinople  that  from  that  hour,  until 
atonement  had  been  made — until  punishment  had  descended,  until  justice 
had  been  vindicated — not  a  man,  nor  a  ship,  nor  a  boat  should  cross  the 
waters  of  the  Bosphorus,  or  the  cloudy  Euxine,  or  the  bright  ^Egean,  to 
carry  aid  to  the  Turkish  troops? 

"Let  us  insist  that  our  Government,  which  has  been  working  in  one 
direction,  shall  work  in  the  other,  and  shall  apply  all  its  vigor  to  concur 
with  the  other  States  of  Europe  in  obtaining  the  extinction  of  the  Turkish 
executive  power  in  Bulgaria.  Let  the  Turks  now  carry  away  their  abuses 


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GLADSTONE  DELIVERING  A  FAMOUS  SPEECH 


THE   KNIGHT   ERRANT.  289 

in  the  only  possible  manner — namely,  by  carrying  off  themselves.  Their 
Zaptiehs  and  their  Mudirs,  their  Bimbashis  and  their  Yuzbachis,  their 
Kaimakams  and  their  Pashas — one  and  all,  bag  and  baggage,  shall,  I 
hope,  clear  out  from  the  province  they  have  desolated  and  profaned. 
.  .  .  If  it  be  allowable  that  the  executive  power  of  Turkey  should 
renew  at  this  great  crisis,  by  permission  or  authority  of  Europe,  the 
charter  of  its  existence  in  Bulgaria,  then  there  is  not  on  record  since 
the  beginning  of  political  society  a  protest  that  man  has  lodged  against 
intolerable  misgovernment,  or  a  stroke  he  has  dealt  at  loathsome  tyranny, 
that  ought  not  henceforward  to  be  branded  as  a  crime." 

And  England  more  clearly  understood  him.  Gladstone  was  never 
more  patriotic  or  effective.  He  had  doubtless  saved  England  from 
going  into  war  and  placing  herself  on  the  wrong  side  of  the  contest. 
It  was  a  disheartening  day,  however,  in  the  life  of  the  great  statesman, 
when  even  Disraeli  could  be  applauded  as  he  spoke  of  the  "sinister 
ends"  which  the  followers  of  Gladstone  and  their  chief  were  seeking 
to  accomplish,  and  stigmatized  their  conduct  as  "worse  than  the  Bul- 
garian atrocities."  It  was  impossible  for  Gladstone  to  safely  appear 
on  the  streets  of  London.  Mr.  Lucy's  famous  "Diary  of  Two  Par- 
liaments" furnishes  but  one  of  the  many  pages  written  by  publicists 
and  historians  perpetuating  the  memory  of  those  militant  days: 

"Scene,  division  lobby  of  the  House  of  Commons;  date,  I2th  April, 
1878;  time,  9:20  p.  m.  Gladstone  is  walking  along  the  lobby,  having 
recorded  his  vote  against  a  hasty  proposal  to  conduct  the  business  of 
Parliament  in  secret.  The  Conservative  majority  in  the  other  lobby 
observe  him  through  the  glass  door  and  suddenly  set  up  a  yell  of  execra- 
tion which  could  scarcely  be  more  violent  if  the  murderer  of  Lord  Leitrim, 
flying  for  sanctuary  to  Westminster,  were  discovered  skulking  in  the 
lobby.  The  crowd  increases  till  it  reaches  the  proportions  of  forty  or 
fifty  English  gentlemen,  all  well  educated,  many  of  good  birth  who,  with 
hand  held  to  mouth  to  make  the  sound  shriller,  howl  and  groan,  while 
some  even  shake  their  fists.  Gladstone,  startled  at  the  cry,  looks  up  and 
sees  the  crowd.  He  pauses  a  moment,  and  then,  advancing  close  up 
to  the  glass  door,  calmly  surveys  the  yelling  mob.  On  the  one  side 
the  slight  figure  drawn  to  its  full  height,  and  the  pale,  stern  face  stead- 
fastly turned  towards  the  crowd.  On  the  other  the  jeering,  mocking,  ges- 
ticulating mob.  Between  them  the  glass  door  and  the  infinite  space 
that  separates  a  statesman  from  the  partisan." 

19 


2QO  GLADSTONE:    A  BIOGRAPHICAL  STUDY. 

The  windows  of  Gladstone's  house  were  broken ;  he  received  threats 
of  personal  violence,  and  often  found  himself  under  the  necessity  of 
seeking  police  protection;  but  during  it  all  there  walked  by  his  side, 
in  beautiful  majesty,  his  faithful  wife.  Meantime,  in  the  presence  of 
a  world  slowly  turning  to  the  side  of  humanity  and  justice,  Disraeli 
and  Gladstone  were  grappling  in  debate.  The  distance  from  the 
House  of  Commons  to  the  House  of  Lords  could  not  make  peace 
between  them.  It  was  the  fiercest  controversy  in  which  these  political 
duelists  had  ever  been  involved,  and  it  furnished  England  and  civiliza- 
tion a  lesson  never  to  be  unlearned. 

Lord  Salisbury,  however,  was  sent  to  Constantinople  to  demand 
that  an  end  be  put  to  the  atrocities,  while  Gladstone  was  still  rousing 
England.  He  was  in  sight  of  victory.  Gladstone's  review  article  on 
Montenegro,  published  in  1877,  will  always  remain  like  a  mirror  in 
which  the  face  of  the  author  himself  may  be  seen  and  studied.  His 
unsurpassed  zeal  for  down-trodden  men  and  women  furnished  many 
witnesses  to  itself  in  that  long  controversy.  Every  element  of  his 
physical  strength,  and  every  energy  of  his  indignant  soul,  every 
accomplishment  of  his  fertile  mind,  every  dearest  friendship — he 
consecrated  all  to  this  cause.  In  the  autumn  of  November,  he 
visited  Ireland.  This  visit  was  to  prove  of  the  utmost  import- 
ance to  him  and  to  the  Irish  people  in  a  short  period.  He  came 
closer  to  the  Irish  problem  than  ever  before,  and  his  visit,  while  very 
enjoyable,  accomplished  something  more  than  to  prove  to  him  the 
warmheartedness  of  the  Irish  people.  It  gave  him  an  insight  into 
some  of  the  difficulties  which  finally  came  to  him  from  that  population, 
in  his  attempted  solution  of  the  problem  years  afterward.  He  said, 
speaking  in  Dublin: 

"I  could  not  describe  the  tumult  almost  of  thought  and  emotion  that 
a  visit  to  Ireland  brought  into  my  mind.  I  saw  from  its  antiquities,  which 
formerly  I  knew  the  existence  of  only  in  the  abstract,  how  remarkable  was 
the  position  which  Ireland  occupied  in  those  days,  and  I  may  say  in 
those  centuries,  when  she  had  almost  a  monopoly  of  learning  and  piety, 
and  when  she  alone  held  up  the  truths  of  civilization,  of  true,  Christian 
civilization,  in  Northern  and  Western  Europe.  They  made  a  very  deep 


THE  KNIGHT  ERRANT.  291 

impression  on  me,  and  they  enabled  me  the  better  to  understand  the 
intense  feeling  with  which  the  Irishman  loves  his  country." 

However,  this  was  not  Ireland's  time  for  Gladstone's  impassioned 
oratory.  It  is  doubtful  if  ever  her  cause  so  commanded  a  certain  kind 
of  eloquence  as  the  state  of  affairs  in  the  East  drew  from  the  expe- 
rienced speaker.  Certainly  Gladstone's  grandest  days  as  an  orator 
were  these.  A  certain  Mr.  Chaplin  sought  to  vex  him,  if  not  com- 
pel him  to  cease,  before  a  volley  of  questions.  They  were  such  as 
only  roused  Gladstone  to  a  hotter  onset.  He  thus  disposed  of  the 
inconsequential  Chaplin  who  had  been  stupid  enough  to  intimate 
that  Gladstone  had  not  been  honorable  in  meeting  his  antagonists. 
Said  the  high-spirited  Gladstone: 

"He  says,  sir,  that  I  have  been  an  inflammatory  agitator,  and  that, 
as  soon  as  I  have  got  into  this  House,  I  have  no  disposition  to  chant 
in  the  same  key.  But  before  these  debates  are  over — before  this  question 
is  settled — the  hon.  gentleman  will  know  more  about  my  opinions  than 
he  knows  at  present,  or  is  likely  to  know  to-night.  I  am  not  about  to  reveal 
now  to  the  hon.  gentleman  the  secrets  of  a  mind  so  inferior  to  his  own. 
I  am  not  so  young  as  to  think  that  his  obliging  inquiries  supply  me  with 
the  opportunities  most  advantageous  to  the  public  interest  for  the  laying 
out  of  the  plan  of  a  campaign.  By  the  time  the  hon.  member  is  as  old 
as  I  am,  if  he  comes  in  his  turn  to  be  accused  of  cowardice  by  a  man 
of  the  next  generation  to  himself,  he  probably  may  find  it  convenient 
to  refer  to  the  reply  I  am  now  making,  and  to  make  it  a  model,  or,  at 
all  events,  to  take  from  it  hints  and  suggestions,  with  which  to  dispose 
of  the  antagonist  that  may  then  rise  against  him. 

"I  will  tell  the  hon.  gentleman,"  added  Mr.  Gladstone,  "something 
in  answer  to  his  questions,  and  it  is  that  I  will  tell  him  nothing  at  all. 
I  will  take  my  own  counsel,  and  beg  to  inform  him  that  he  shall  have 
no  reason  whatever  to  complain,  when  the  accounts  oome  to  be  set- 
tled and  cast  up  at  the  end  of  the  whole  matter,  of  any  reticence  or  sup- 
pressions on  my  part." 

He  then  rose  from  his  prostrate  foe,  to  the  level  of  his  great 
theme,  concluding  thus: 

"We  have,  I  think,  the  most  solemn  and  the  greatest  question  to 
determine  that  has  come  before  Parliament  in  my  time.  It  is  only  under 


292  GLADSTONE:    A   BIOGRAPHICAL  STUDY. 

very  rare  circumstances  that  such  a  question — the  question  of  the  East — 
can  be  fully  raised,  fully  developed  and  exhibited,  and  fully  brought 
home  to  the  minds  of  men  with  that  force,  with  that  command,  with 
that  absorbing  power,  which  it  ought  to  exercise  over  them.  In  the  orig- 
inal entrance  of  the  Turks  into  Europe,  it  may  be  said  to  have  been  a  turn- 
ing point  in  human  history.  To  a  great  extent  it  continues  to  be  the  car- 
dinal question,  the  question  which  casts  into  the  shade  every  other  ques- 
tion, and  the  question  which  is  now  brought  before  the  mind  of  the  country 
far  more  fully  than  at  any  period  of  our  history,  far  more  fully  than  even 
at  the  time  of  the  Crimean  War,  when  we  were  pouring  forth  our  blood 
and  treasure  in  what  we  thought  to  be  the  cause  of  justice  and  right. 
And  I  endeavored  to  impress  upon  the  minds  of  my  audience  at  Taunton, 
not  a  blind  prejudice  against  this  man  or  that,  but  a  great  watchfulness 
and  the  duty  of  great  activity.  It  is  the  duty  of  every  man  to  feel  that  he 
is  bound  for  himself,  according  to  his  opportunities,  to  examine  what 
belongs  to  this  question,  with  regard  to  which  it  can  never  be  forgotten 
that  we  are  those  who  set  up  the  power  of  Turkey  in  1854;  that  we  are 
those  who  gave  her  the  strength  which  has  been  exhibited  in  the  Bul- 
garian massacres;  that  we  are  those  who  made  the  treaty  arrangements 
that  have  secured  her  for  twenty  years  from  almost  a  single  hour  of  un- 
easiness brought  about  by  foreign  intervention;  and  that,  therefore,  noth- 
ing can  be  greater  and  nothing  deeper  than  our  responsibility  in  the  mat- 
ter. It  is  incumbent  upon  us,  one  and  all,  that  we  do  not  allow  any 
consideration,  either  of  party  or  personal  convenience,  to  prevent  us  from 
endeavoring  to  the  best  of  our  ability  to  discharge  this  great  duty,  that 
now,  at  length,  in  the  East,  has  sprung  up;  and  that  in  the  midst  of  this 
great  opportunity,  when  all  Europe  has  been  called  to  collective  action, 
and  when  something  like  European  concert  has  been  established — when 
we  learn  the  deep  human  interests  that  are  involved  in  every  stage  of  the 
question — as  far  as  England  at  least  is  concerned,  every  Englishman 
should  strive  to  the  utmost  of  his  might  that  justice  shall  be  done." 

He  soon  proposed  a  series  of  resolutions  which  most  comprehen- 
sively attacked  the  Government,  and  he  supported  them  in  a  powerful 
speech  which  he  thus  concluded: 

"Sir,  there  were  other  days  when  England  was  the  hope  of  freedom. 
Wherever  in  the  world  a  high  aspiration  was  entertained  or  a  noble  blow 
was  struck,  it  was  to  England  that  the  eyes  of  the  oppressed  were  always 
turned — to  this  favorite,  this  darling  home  of  so  much  privilege  and  so 
much  happiness,  where  the  people  that  nad  built  up  a  noble  edifice  for 


THE  KNIGHT  ERRANT.  293 

themselves  would,  it  was  well  known,  be  ready  to  do  what  in  them  lay 
to  secure  the  benefit  of  the  same  inestimable  boon  for  others.  You  talk  to 
me  of  the  established  traditions  and  policy  in  regard  to  Turkey.  I 
appeal  to  an  established  tradition,  older,  wider,  nobler  far — a  tradition  not 
which  disregards  British  interests,  but  which  teaches  you  to  seek  the 
promotion  of  these  interests  in  obeying  the  dictates  of  honor  and  justice. 
And,  -sir,  what  is  to  be  the  end  of  this?  Are  we  to  dress  up  the  fan- 
tastic ideas  some  people  entertain  about  this  policy  and  that  policy  in 
the  garb  of  British  interests,  and  then,  with  a  new  and  base  idolatry,  fall 
down  and  worship  them?  Or  are  we  to  look  not  at  the  sentiment,  but 
at  the  hard  facts  of  tKe  case  which  Lord  Derby  told  us  fifteen  years  ago — 
viz.,  that  it  is  the  populations  of  those  countries  that  will  ultimately  possess 
them — that  will  ultimately  determine  their  abiding  condition?  It  is  to 
this  fact,  this  law,  that  we  should  look.  There  is  now  before  the  world 
a  glorious  prize.  A  portion  of  those  unhappy  people  are  still  as  yet  making 
an  effort  to  retrieve  what  they  have,  lost  so  long,  but  have  not  ceased  to 
love  and  to  desire.  I  speak  of  those  in  Bosnia  and  Herzegovina.  Another 
portion — a  band  of  heroes  such  as  the  world  has  rarely  seen — stand  on  the 
rocks  of  Montenegro,  and  are  ready  now,  as  they  have  ever  been  during 
the  400  years  of  their  exile  from  their  fertile  plains,  to  sweep  down  from 
their  fastnesses,  and  to  meet  the  Turks  at  any  odds  for  the  re-establishment 
of  justice  and  of  peace  in  those  countries.  Another  portion,  still,  the 
5,000,000  of  Bulgarians  cowed  and  beaten  down  to  the  ground,  hardly 
venturing  to  look  upwards,  even  to  their  Father  in  Heaven,  have  extended 
their  hands  to  you;  they  have  sent  you  their  petition,  they  have  prayed 
for  your  help  and  protection.  They  have  told  you  that  they  do  not  seek 
alliance  with  Russia  or  with  any  foreign  Power,  but  that  they  seek  to  be 
delivered  from  an  intolerable  burden  of  woe  and  shame.  That  burden  of 
woe  and  shame — the  greatest  that  exists  on  God's  earth — is  one  that  we 
thought  united  Europe  was  about  to  remove,  but  to  removing  which,  for 
the  present,  you  seem  to  have  no  efficacious  means  of  offering,  even  the 
smallest  practical  contribution.  But,  sir,  the  removal  of  that  load  of  woe 
and  shame  is  a  great  and  noble  prize.  It  is  a  prize  well  worth  competing 
for.  It  is  not  too  late  to  try  to  win  it.  I  believe  there  are  men  in  the 
Cabinet  who  would  try  to  win  it  if  they  were  free  to  act  on  their  own 
beliefs  and  aspirations.  It  is  not  too  late,  I  say,  to  become  competitors  for 
that  prize,  but  be  assured  that  whether  you  mean  to  claim  for  yourselves 
even  a  single  leaf  in  that  immortal  chaplet  of  renown,  which  will  be  the 
reward  of  true  labor  in  that  cause,  or  whether  you  turn  your  backs  upon 
that  cause  and  upon  your  own  duty,  I  believe  for  one,  that  the  knell  of 
Turkish  tyranny  in  these  provinces  has  sounded.  So  far  as  human  eye 


294  GLADSTONE:    A  BIOGRAPHICAL  STUDY. 

can  judge,  it  is  about  to  be  destroyed.  The  destruction  may  not  come 
in  the  way  or  by  the  means  that  we  should  choose;  but  come  this  boon 
from  what  hands  it  may,  it  will  be  a  noble  boon,  and  as  a  noble  boon  will 
gladly  be  accepted  by  Christendom  and  the  world." 

One  night  the  House  of  Commons  was  thrown  into  confusion  by 
the  startling  report  that  the  Russians  were  in  sight  of  Constantinople. 
It  was  a  clamorous  and  wild  scene.  Although  the  report  was  wrong, 
it  carried  the  English  fleet  through  the  Dardanelles,  and  brought  the 
navy  of  England  within  sight  of  the  Turkish  capital.  It  seemed  im- 
possible that  negotiations  between  Russia  and  England  could  prevent 
a  more  serious  strife;  Russia  had  entered  into  negotiations  with  Turkey 
in  the  Treaty  of  San  Stefano;  but  England  would  have  none  of  this 
arrangement.  Russia  insisted  that  while  her  difficulties  with  Turkey 
were  for  herself  and  Turkey  to  settle,  she  was  willing  to  have  a  con- 
gress of  the  Great  Powers.  England  replied  by  calling  her  Indian 
troops  west,  and  placing  them  on  the  Syrian  coast  and  occupying 
Cyprus.  Lord  Derby  declined  to  remain  with  the  Ministry,  for  all 
his  efforts  in  behalf  of  peace  had  failed,  and  Lord  Salisbury  took  his 
position.  Now  a  "spirited  foreign  policy"  was  made  evident  by  his 
circular  announcing  that  England  would  go  into  no  congress  in  which 
the  Treaty  of  San  Stefano  could  not  be  fully  considered.  Prince 
Bismarck  now  interposed.  A  congress  was  to  be  held  in  Berlin,  and 
the  Powers  were  invited  to  participate  in  the  discussion  which  was 
to  involve  all  the  provisions  of  the  San  Stefano  Treaty.  Here  was  the 
moment  for  Lord  Beaconsfield,  and  he  seized  it  with  that  avidity  which 
he  always  showed  for  a  dramatic  situation.  Lord  Salisbury  was  pushed 
aside,  and  Beaconsfield  strode  to  Berlin  amidst  acclamations  and 
scenic  glory.  Back  from  Berlin  he  came,  and  the  crowds  which  had 
cheered  him  on  his  way  thither  had  doubled  in  multitude,  until  their 
shoutings  actually  bewildered  the  supreme  actor  on  that  occasion. 
He  had  reached  the  height,  and  from  that  moment  on,  the  applause 
slowly  but  surely  died  away. 

Lord  John  Russell  had  died  on  the  28th  of  May,  and  the  depres- 
sion in  trade,  coupled  with  the  growing  feeling  that  Beaconsfield's  do- 
mestic policy  had  been  a  steady  neglect  of  the  interests  of  England 


THE   KNIGHT  ERRANT.  295 

at  home,  conspired  with  disturbances  in  Ireland  to  discredit  the  Gov- 
ernment. There  was  no  one  in  the  House  of  Commons  who  could 
attend  to  Mr.  Gladstone  in  debate,  and  especially  to  one  other  man 
who  had  exhibited  extraordinary  resources  and  skill,  great  calmness 
and  assurance  in  managing  the  interests  of  his  party,  and  an  all-con- 
suming devotion  to  his  cause, — Charles  Stewart  Parnell. 

The  invasion  of  Afghanistan,  directed  in  a  large  part  by  the  author 
of  "Lucille,"  and  possessing  none  of  the  better  characteristics  of  that 
sentimental  production,  added  nothing,  but  took  away  much  from  the 
credit  of  the  Government.  The  South  African  war,  into  which  the 
English  Government  had  gone  with  the  somewhat  romantic  energy 
of  James  Anthony  Froude  as  advisory  leader,  proved  even  less  wise. 
A  Zulu  chief  and  king,  Cetewayo,  invited  the  rivalry  of  Sir  Bartle 
Frere,  and  war  was  declared,  and  the  king  finally  put  on  exhibition  in 
London.  In  the  country  suffering  was  increasing  constantly.  A  very 
severe  winter  had  caused  great  distress  among  the  working  classes, 
and  Ireland  was  on  the  edge  of  a  famine.  Gladstone  had  trained  Sir 
Stafford  Northcote  for  many  years  in  debate,  and  later  Disraeli,  now 
Lord  Beaconsfield,  had  coached  him  as  a  Tory  gladiator,  but  he  could 
not  give  him  that  fortitude  and  inflexible  strength  which  he  so  much 
lacked  when  he  came  into  the  contest  with  the  foes  of  the  Govern- 
ment. Gladstone  had  defied  the  ministers  to  let  the  constituencies 
decide  as  to  its  worth  or  worthlessness. 


CHAPTER    XXXIV. 
THE   MEMBER   FROM   MIDLOTHIAN. 

The  autumn  of  1879  came.  Gladstone  himself  was  determined  to  al- 
low Midlothian  to  decide  as  to  the  advisability  of  his  remaining  in  Par- 
liament. Now  began  a  series  of  speeches  from  Gladstone,  unexcelled 
even  in  the  history  of  that  great  Commoner.  Could  he  control  and 
conquer  a  vast  assemblage? — his  friends  even  questioned  the  man  of 
three  score  and  ten.  He  proved  that  he  was  not  more  out  of  place 
on  the  platform  before  five  thousand  people  at  the  Corn  Exchange  in 
Edinburgh,  or  even  at  the  open-air  monster  meeting  in  Perth,  than 
he  had  been  in  the  comparatively  small  auditorium  known  as  the 
House  of  Commons.  On  the  4th  of  December  he  showed  something 
of  the  versatility  of  his  power  as  an  orator,  for  at  one  hour  on  that 
day  he  was  addressing  an  enthusiastic  assemblage  of  6,000  Scotchmen 
on  politics,  while  at  another  hour  he  had  spoken  with  grace,  dignity 
and  elegance,  his  address  as  Lord  Rector  of  the  University  of  Glasgow. 
The  Scotch  people  were  wild  in  their  admiration  of  a  Scotchman,  who, 
they  said,  had  only  the  misfortune  of  having  been  born  in  England. 
March  8,  1880,  the  dissolution  of  Parliament  was  announced.  An 
overwhelming  wave  of  popular  sentiment  led  on  by  Gladstone  had 
swept  over  the  ministry.  Beaconsfield  rose  to  the  occasion  and  said: 
"There  are  some  who  challenge  the  expediency  of  the  Imperial  charac- 
ter of  this  realm.  Having  attempted  and  failed  to  enfeeble  our  col- 
onies by  their  policy  of  decomposition,  they  may  now  perhaps  recognize 
to  the  disintegration  of  the  United  Kingdom  a  mode  which  will  not 
only  accomplish,  but  precipitate  that  purpose."  Gladstone's  reply 
was  characteristic  and  powerful.  Lord  Derby  seceded  from  Con- 
servatism. The  three  kingdoms  prepared  for  an  intense  struggle,  and 
on  the  loth  of  March,  Gladstone  began  his  second  conquest  of  the 
Midlothian  country.  It  was  remarkable  with  what  dignity  he  dealt 

296 


THE  MEMBER   FROM   MIDLOTHIAN.  297 

with  the  bitterness  and  apparent  malignity  of  Disraeli's  attack.    Refer- 
ring to  his  opponents,  he  said: 

"I  give  them  credit  for  patriotic  motives;  I  give  them  credit  for  those 
patriotic  motives  which  are  so  incessantly  and  gratuitously  denied  to  us. 
I  believe  that  we  are  all  united,  gentlemen — indeed,  it  would  be  most 
unnatural  if  we  were  not — in  a  fond  attachment,  perhaps  in  something  of 
a  proud  attachment,  to  the  great  country  to  which  we  belong — to 
this  great  Empire  which  has  committed  to  it  a  trust  and  a  function 
given  from  Providence  as  special  and  remarkable  as  ever  was  entrusted 
to  any  portion  of  the  family  of  man.  Gentlemen,  I  feel  when  I  speak  of 
that  trust  and  that  function  that  words  fail  me;  I  cannot  tell  you  what 
I  think  of  the  nobleness  of  the  inheritance  that  has  descended  upon  us,  of 
the  sacredness  of  the  duty  of  maintaining  it.  I  will  not  condescend  to 
make  it  a  part  of  controversial  politics.  It  is  a  part  of  my  being,  of  my 
flesh  and  blood,  of  my  heart  and  soul.  For  those  ends  I  have  labored 
through  my  youth  and  manhood  till  my  hairs  are  gray.  In  that  faith  and 
practice  I  have  lived;  in  that  faith  and  practice  I  will  die." 

In  1880,  during  his  tour  in  Scotland,  Gladstone's  versatility  and 
eloquence  were  demonstrated  by  masterly  speeches  on  the  finances  of 
the  country,  and  if  ever  there  had  been  doubt  that  the  younger  Pitt 
was  eclipsed  by  the  brilliant  display  of  extraordinary  powers  of  state- 
ment and  exposition,  these  speeches  settled  the  question  forever. 
Before  audiences  excited  to  exuberant  manifestations  of  patriotism; 
on  every  hand,  Gladstone  stood  with  commanding  force,  and  with  un- 
rivaled lucidity  explained  the  finances  of  the  country. 

In  April,  1880,  Lord  Beaconsfield  dissolved  Parliament,  producing 
a  result  as  unforeseen  and  as  destructive  to  his  hopes  as  was  that 
produced  by  Gladstone  in  1874,  when  suddenly  and  against  the  advice 
of  his  colleagues,  he  persisted  in  dissolution.  Many  Liberals  still  be- 
lieve that  Gladstone's  Government  in  1874  might  have  held  on  and 
regained  the  confidence  of  the  country.  Nobody  thought  that  Lord 
Beaconsfield's  Government  at  Easter,  1880,  could  be  far  away  from  a 
necessary  defeat.  When  the  new  Parliament  came,  the  uneasy  gen- 
tlemen who  had  occupied  the  "Cave  of  Adullam,"  the  band  of  dis- 
contented ones  under  Gladstone's  leadership,  found  that  their  places 
knew  them  no  more,  Gladstone  himself  had  come  back,  after  having 


298  GLADSTONE:    A   BIOGRAPHICAL  STUDY. 

performed  a  feat  uneclipsed  in  the  history  of  human  eloquence.  It 
was  evident  that  the  liquor  interests  had  not  reappeared  with  the 
old  sneer  and  power  to  obstruct  or  embarrass  the  Government.  A 
large  number  of  journalists  had  become  members,  and  what  John 
Stuart  Mill  had  called  the  stupidity  of  the  Tories,  was  set  off  in  contrast 
with  the  brilliant  literary  skill  of  these  new  figures  in  official  life. 
Herbert  Gladstone,  the  son  of  the  statesman,  sat  for  Leeds.  The 
great  houses  were  notably  absent,  and  while  questions  as  to  agri- 
culture and  the  tenure  of  land  were  sure  to  come  up,  the  landed 
proprietors  were  now  to  be  associated  by  representative  tenant  farm- 
ers, who  knew  at  least  something  about  the  subject.  Fashionable 
society,  of  course,  which  had  made  Toryism  a  step  to  its  drawing- 
room,  regarded  the  whole  collection  as  countrified  and  generally  un- 
pleasant. There  sat  Mr.  Fawcett  and  Sir  Charles  Dilke,  ready  with 
Radical  plans  not  quite  to  the  liking  even  of  Lord  Hartington  and 
Lord  Granville,  who  were  undoubted  Liberals,  but  the  differences 
between  the  elements  in  the  party  were  bound  up  with  something  of 
amity  by  the  strong  hand  which  led  them  to  this  triumph.  Since 
the  days  of  Sir  Robert  Peel  when  the  Reform  Bill  had  swept  England 
as  by  a  flood,  no  man  had  so  completely  overturned  his  foes  as  had 
Gladstone.  After  Lord  Beaconsfield  had  gone  to  Windsor  and  re- 
signed the  seals  of  his  office,  Her  Majesty  sent  for  Lord  Granville  to 
constitute  a  Government.  It  was  a  graceful  and  perhaps  necessary 
thing  to  do,  but  England  did  not  expect  Granville  to  be  the  Premier, 
and  Granville  told  the  Queen  that  this  was  the  case.  She  then 
sent  for  Lord  Hartington,  who  was  an  excellent  gentleman,  having 
sense  enough,  in  spite  of  his  general  heaviness,  to  know  that  one  man 
alone  had  overturned  Beaconsfield  and  his  party,  and  that  his 
name  was  not  Hartington.  She  then  sent  for  William  Ewart  Glad- 
stone, and  that  night  he  returned  from  Windsor  once  more  Prime 
Minister  of  England. 

Mr.  Gladstone  found  himself  in  office  to  meet  unexpected  prob- 
lems. He  found  the  Irish  question  overwhelmingly  significant  at  the 
very  moment  when  he  was  trying  to  deal  with  the  Indian  Budget, 
which  latter  presented  the  difficulty  consequent  upon  the  fact  that 


THE   MEMBER   FROM   MIDLOTHIAN.  299 

fifteen  millions,  instead  of  six  millions,  was  the  debt  made  by  the 
Afghan  war.  The  Queen's  speech  had  called  attention  to  the  Berlin 
Treaty,  and  there  were  conditions  in  that  document  which  had  not 
been  met.  On  the  ist  of  June,  it  was  understood  that  what  was  known 
as  the  Peace  Preservation  Act  for  Ireland  would  expire.  The  an- 
nouncement came  that  there  was  no  intention  on  the  part  of  the  Gov- 
ernment to  renew  this  legislation.  The  workingmen  were  told  that 
legislation  would  be  had,  making  employers  liable  for  certain  acci- 
dents, and  the  Irish  people  were  interested  to  know  how  far  the 
Borough  Franchise  was  to  be  extended  in  their  country.  Everything 
was  interrogatory,  but  it  could  not  remain  so. 

To  any  persons  who  met  and  knew  Mr.  Charles  Bradlaugh  during 
his  visit  to  America,  in  which  he  delivered  masterly  and  most  eloquent 
lectures  on  "Cromwell  and  Washington,"  "Republicanism  in  England" 
and  other  kindred  subjects,  it  is  unnecessary  to  speak  of  the  pic- 
turesqueness  and  ineffaceable  charm  which  he  brought  with  him.  He 
always  spoke  of  Mr.  Gladstone  in  most  friendly  terms,  and  rehearsed 
with  great  interest  the  story  of  Gladstone's  development  from  Toryism 
to  Liberalism,  dwelling  especially  upon  his  attitude  toward  the  Jews 
in  Parliament,  the  Disestablishment  of  the  Irish  Protestant  Church, 
and  his  manifest  sense  of  justice  toward  those  who  differed  from  him 
in  religious  opinions.  But  it  was  impossible  that  Bradlaugh  could 
avoid  being  a  serious  thorn  in  the  side  of  the  great  Liberal  leader. 
His  very  genius  and  love  of  liberty,  which  allied  him  to  Gladstone, 
made  it  less  easy  for  Gladstone  to  handle  him  as  he  might  have  done. 
There  were  enormous  differences  between  them.  Bradlaugh  was  an  athe- 
ist and  Gladstone  the  most  devoted  of  churchmen.  Bradlaugh  had  risen 
from  penury  and  ignorance  through  countless  difficulties  to  a  position 
in  England  from  which  he  exercised  his  marvelous  powers  of  eloquence 
and  the  charm  of  his  interesting  though  somewhat  militant  personality. 
He  had  been  a  successful  lecturer,  before  audiences  whose  numbers 
and  enthusiasm  had  increased  as  he  unfolded  his  negative  and  some- 
what revolutionary  doctrine.  He  had  successfully  edited  a  secularist 
sheet  devoted  to  the  propagation  of  his  theories.  He  had  now  been 
elected  to  Parliament  for  Northampton.  Nobody  had  the  slightest 


300  GLADSTONE:    A  BIOGRAPHICAL  STUDY. 

idea  that  this  magnificently-formed  creature  was  to  employ  the  fight- 
ing qualities  which  had  already  commended  him  as  a  member  of  the 
British  Army,  and  that  these  qualities  had  open  before  them  a  new 
era,  at  the  moment  when  he  presented  himself  to  be  sworn  in  as  a 
member  of  the  House  of  Commons.  He  urged  his  claim  that  he  be 
allowed  to  affirm  or  declare  his  allegiance,  in  place  of  taking  the 
oath,  as  was  customary.  Time  after  time  he  had  appeared  in  the 
highest  courts  of  England,  and  had  been  permitted  to  affirm  rather 
than  take  the  oath  under  the  law  known  as  the  Parliamentary  Oaths 
Act  of  1866.  The  Speaker  was  dumfounded,  as  he  was  to  be  many 
times  afterwards,  by  the  boldness  of  Bradlaugh's  argument,  and  he 
asked  the  House  of  Commons  to  decide  the  matter.  A  select  com- 
mittee was  appointed  co  report  their  opinion  on  the  problem  and  to 
suggest  a  way  out  or  the  difficulty,  and  everything  appeared  to  be 
settled  when  they  reported  against  Bradlaugh.  The  latter  imme- 
diately announced  that  on  the  2ist  of  May  he  would  present  himself 
and  offer  to  take  the  oath.  This  was  unexpected,  and  still  more  un- 
expected was  his  defense  of  his  position,  in  which  he  insisted  that  he 
would  regard  himself  bound  only  by  the  spirit  which  would  have  been 
conveyed  by  an  affirmation,  for  he  could  not  regard  seriously  the  letter 
of  the  oath.  When  that  day  came  he  was  opposed  by  Sir  H.  Drum- 
mond-Wolff,  who  presented  a  careful  and  able  argument,  insisting  that 
Bradlaugh's  new  position  showed  that  no  binding  effect  on  the  con- 
science would  be  exercised  by  an  oath.  At  this  moment  Gladstone 
proposed  the  selection  of  a  committee,  but  he  was  seriously  opposed 
by  those  who  wished  the  matter  decided  at  once.  Gladstone  insisted 
that  it  ought  to  be  treated  with  care  and  wisdom.  His  opponents 
claimed  that  Bradlaugh  had  proposed  an  act  of  blasphemy.  Gladstone 
and  Bright,  opposed  by  Sir  Stafford  Northcote  and  Mr.  Gibson,  ar- 
gued that  religious  opinions  ought  not  to  be  involved  in  the  debate, 
but  that  the  question  ought  to  be  discussed  as  a  question  of  statute 
and  of  justice.  At  length  Mr.  Gladstone  succeeded,  and  a  committee 
was  appointed. 

In  the  latter  part  of  June,  the  sprightly  and  always  entertaining 
editor  of  Truth,  Mr.  Henry  Labouchere,  who  also  came  from  North- 


THE  MEMBER   FROM   MIDLOTHIAN.  301 

ampton,  proposed  that  Bradlaugh  be  allowed  to  affirm  or  to  declare, 
instead  of  swear,  as  was  the  custom.  He  moved  a  resolution  on  the 
ground  that  the  statute  gave  Bradlaugh  this  right.  All  the  fearful 
and  extraordinarily  religious  persons  in  the  House  of  Commons 
thronged  about  Gladstone,  and  beseeched  him  to  avoid  giving  comfort 
or  encouragement  to  so  dangerous  an  infidel  as  was  Bradlaugh.  Glad- 
stone arose  in  the  debate,  far  above  the  tumult  of  religious  or  irre- 
ligious clamor,  and  made  a  speech  which  will  be  considered  a  monu- 
ment in  the  history  of  religious  toleration.  The  vote  showed  that  the 
House  of  Commons  was  unwilling  that  Bradlaugh  should  be  permitted 
either  to  swear  or  to  affirm  or  declare. 

At  this  time  they  had  only  begun  to  be  weary  of  him.  The  next 
day  Bradlaugh  was  before  the  table  of  the  House,  asking  to  be  sworn. 
Being  ordered  to  withdraw,  and  refusing  to  obey,  the  sergeant-at- 
arms  took  him  into  custody  on  the  motion  of  Sir  Stafford  Northcote, 
and  he  was  placed  in  the  clock  tower.  In  twenty-four  hours  the  freed 
atheist  was  abroad  again  in  the  world,  and  on  July  ist,  the  piety 
'of  England  breathed  more  freely  because  a  resolution  had  been  passed 
which  permitted  any  person  who  claimed  to  be  one  allowed  by  law 
to  affirm,  to  do  so,  instead  of  swearing,  but  leaving  him  to  the  conse- 
quences of  prosecution  on  a  statute  making  members  liable.  Of 
course  Bradlaugh  affirmed,  meanwhile  keeping  his  seat  in  the  House 
of  Commons.  Now  began  a  series  of  lawsuits  against  him,  which  left 
him  day  by  day  more  and  more  deeply  involved  in  debt,  for  every  case 
went  against  him. 

With  Bradlaugh's  case,  for  the  moment,  a  little  out  of  the  way, 
Mr.  Parnell  arose  as  the  fearless  and  resourceful  champion  of  Ireland. 
Gladstone  had  taken  his  measure  at  an  early  date,  and  with  wonderful 
astuteness  he  led  Parnell  into  an  ever-increasing  influence  in  the  House 
of  Commons.  Parnell  had  established  the  Land  League.  Mr.  Michael 
Davitt,  who  had  commended  himself  to  Ireland  by  having  been  incar- 
cerated in  jail  as  a  Fenian,  willingly  seconded  Parnell  in  his  upbuilding 
this  association  of  tenants  in  Ireland,  and  this  was  done  just  at  the 
moment  when  Irish  landlords  were  pursuing  a  policy  of  wholesale  evic- 
tion in  the  very  districts  which  had  suffered  most  from  famine.  When 


302  GLADSTONE:    A  BIOGRAPHICAL  STUDY. 

the  House  of  Commons  had  made  an  heroic  effort  to  legislate  in  the 
direction  of  compensation  for  these  penniless  and  suffering  tenants, 
the  House  of  Lords,  with  its  usual  conservatism,  crushed  the  plan. 

Early  in  January,  1881,  it  was  evident  that  a  struggle  was  on  hand 
arising  from  the  use  of  obstruction  as  a  Parliamentary  weapon.  What 
was  called  the  "Irish  Protection  of  Property  Bill"  was  to  be  brought 
up,  and  the  Queen's  speech  had  already  opened  a  struggle  which  in- 
volved the  discussion  of  the  condition  of  Ireland,  and  it  lasted  eight 
days.  Unprecedented  as  was  the  length  of  this  debate  on  the  Queen's 
speech,  the  most  wonderful  thing  about  it  was  the  fact  that  Mr. 
Gladstone  held  his  temper  in  the  midst  of  the  most  vexatious  circum- 
stances. Parnell  and  his  friends  repeated  uninteresting  statements 
and  rehearsed  ancient  arguments  until  the  members  of  the  House 
of  Commons  found  that  they  knew  them  by  heart.  Some  of  the 
representatives  of  the  English  boroughs  participated  in  the  discussion 
and  there  was  almost  no  opposition  on  their  part  to  the  Bill.  After 
a  little  time  the  extremists  of  the  Home  Rule  party  took  entire  charge 
of  the  talk  and  prosecuted  the  scheme  of  putting  in  the  time,  and  they 
held  to  it  with  a  tenacity  unparalleled.  Adjournments  were  moved 
repeatedly,  harangues  conceived  with  ingenuity  for  consuming  time 
were  offered,  and  from  night  to  night  the  expected  division  was  put  off 
because  of  the  interposition  of  a  new  and  long-continued  speech. 
Even  the  usual  hour  for  adjournment  made  no  difference.  It  was 
passed  and  repassed.  All  night  and  all  day  motions  and  speeches 
joined  with  amendments  and  resolutions  continued  the  sitting.  Some- 
times Mr.  Forster  had  a  sharp  tilt  with  an  Irish  member,  and  some- 
times a  little  wit  illumined  the  dullness  and  hopelessness  of  the  situa- 
tion. The  Government  stood  with  its  majority,  able  to  defeat  Mr. 
Parnell  and  his  colleagues  in  everything  but  this,  while  Mr.  Parnell 
and  his  crowd  supplied  a  speaker  whenever  one  was  needed.  A 
systematic  effort  was  made  to  rest  the  thirty  or  forty  Home  Rulers 
who  had  begun  to  grow  weary.  Some  went  home  and  slept,  being 
careful  to  return  on  time  and  relieve  the  others  who  had  talked  dur- 
ing the  night.  Then  they  went  to  bed.  Never  before  had  the  House 
of  Commons  sat  so  long,  and  on  Tuesday  night  the  excitement  was 


THE  MEMBER  FROM   MIDLOTHIAN.  303 

intense.  From  every  part  of  London  where  the  lamp  could  be  seen 
shining  still  in  the  high  chamber  of  the  tower  of  the  Houses  of  Parlia- 
ment, indicating  that  the  House  of  Commons  was  still  in  session,  men 
were  gazing  in  wonder  or  in  wrath  that  the  obstructionists  could  hold 
things  so  long.  They  were  surpassing  every  like  success  they  had 
achieved  in  the  past  and  were  emboldened  by  their  triumph.  Whips 
were  walking  about  in  the  early  morning,  taking  hold  of  this  sleepy 
member  and  that  and  urging  them  to  remain,  for  it  was  certain  that 
human  nature  could  not  hold  out  much  longer.  The  ire  of  those  who 
had  endured  this  persistent  obstruction  had  now  arisen  and  they  must 
speak.  There  was  no  slightest  .indication  that  the  Home  Rulers  could 
not  have  talked  on  another  day  or  two,  but  anger  was  evident  upon  the 
faces  of  those  who  saw  Mr.  Gladstone,  who  had  been  vainly  endeavor- 
ing to  master  the  situation  and  lead  the  House  in  the  discharge  of 
public  business.  At  the  usual  breakfast  time  a  highly  irritated  crowd 
of  members  were  speaking  most  bitterly  over  their  morning  repast  in 
the  breakfast  room,  into  which  daylight  was  coming.  The  whips 
suddenly  hurried  in  and  the  company  broke  up  and  rushed  to  the 
House.  Gladstone,  worn,  pale  and  undaunted,  had  unexpectedly  re- 
entered.  The  Speaker  of  the  House  arose  and  stopped  the  debate  in 
words  that  have  become  famous  in  the  history  of  Parliamentary  pro- 
ceedings, and  asked  a  vote  on  the  question.  Mr.  Justin  McCarthy,  who 
was  leading  the  Home  Rulers  in  the  temporary  absence  of  Mr. 
Parnell,  protested,  but  he  was  silenced.  Out  of  the  House  he  strode 
with  his  colleagues,  all  of  them  shouting  "Privilege!  Privilege!" 

Now  those  who  had  endured  for  so  long  this  method  of  obstruc- 
tion expressed  their  pent-up  rejoicings  in  repeated  cheers.  Gladstone 
arose  at  once  and  gave  notice  that  he  would  move  resolutions, 
next  day,  enabling  the  House  of  Commons  to  proceed  with  business 
under  the  order  of  the  Speaker,  who  should  be  invested  with  new 
powers  for  the  control  of  debate.  It  had  taken  a  great  amount  of 
courage  on  the  part  of  the  Speaker;  it  now  remained  for  Gladstone  to 
use  his  majority  in  wisdom.  Next  day  Mr.  Parnell  and  his  colleagues, 
after  having  thrown  the  authority  of  the  Speaker  to  the  winds,  placed 
the  Government  under  the  necessity  of  removing  them.  London  was 


304 


GLADSTONE:    A  BIOGRAPHICAL  STUDY. 


excited  and  England  looked  forward  to  the  day  when  a  less  sensible 
and  fair  presiding  officer  might  abuse  the  authority  with  which  Glad- 
stone's motion,  on  that  day,  had  invested  the  Speaker  of  the  House  of 
Commons.  There  was  no  question  but  that  Gladstone  emerged  from 
the  difficulty  to  the  admiration  of  all  England.  He  had  shown  fair- 
ness and  patience,  now  he  showed  decisiveness  and  strength. 
He  spoke  thus  at  Leeds,  as  he  spoke  elsewhere: 

"The  way  to  make  England  great  in  the  estimation  of  foreign  coun- 
tries is  to  let  it  be  known  by  every  one  that  England  desires  above  all 
things  to  be  just,  and  will  not  seek  to  impose  upon  them  any  laws  of  ac- 
tion, or  any  principles  for  the  interpretation  of  their  conduct,  except  those 
to  which  she  herself  submits." 

Referring  to  Parliament,  he  said,  in  another  speech: 

"The  twelve  Parliaments  in  which  I  have  sat  have  surpassed  all  their 
predecessors  in  the  amount  of  devotion,  measured  by  time  and  actual 
expenditure  of  energy,  which  they  have  given  to  the  public  service.  I 
know  not  whether  the  half-century  that  is  to  come — and  to  it  most  of 
you  who  are  here  assembled  may  reasonably  look  forward,  although  I  may 
not — will  be  one  which  will  record  upon  its  annals  as  many  real  tri- 
umphs, as  many  records  of  evil  mitigated  and  of  good  achieved  for  the 
benefit  of  the  Empire  and  of  mankind.  God  grant  it  may  be  so;  but  of 
one  thing  I  feel  assured,  and  that  is^  that  the  same  pride  which  has  con- 
ducted and  animated  the  nation  during  the  half-century  that  is  now  for 
me  expiring,  will  continue  to  subsist  in  the  breasts  of  my  fellow-country- 
men under  circumstances  equally  favorable,  and  will  not  fail  to  produce 
at  least  equally  favorable  results." — Speech  at  the  London  Guildhall, 
Oct.  14. 

Large  and  international  hopes  were  making  him  England's  "Old 
Man  Eloquent." 


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CHAPTER  XXXV. 
THE  IRISH  PROBLEM   AGAIN. 

Now  even  Gladstone's  heart  was  faint  at  the  unexpected  behavior 
of  the  Irish  people,  while  murder  followed  murder  in  that  unhappy 
country.  It  was  impossible  that  Gladstone,  pledged  as  were  his  heart, 
intellect  and  conscience  to  redeem  Ireland,  could  avoid  favoring  a 
Coercion  Bill,  which,  in  turn,  simply  provoked  the  Irish  people  to 
more  outrages.  He  was  at  work  on  a  Land  Bill,  which,  at  a  later 
time,  was  to  be  offered  and  its  wisest  provisions  to  be  torn  out  ruth- 
lessly by  the  House  of  Lords.  Ireland  arose  against  him  in  the  rural 
districts  and  at  Dublin,  and  Mr.  Parnell,  aided  by  powerful  colleagues, 
pursued  the  policy  of  obstructing  everything  in  the  House  of  Com- 
mons, until  the  cry  of  Ireland  for  self-government  should  be  heard. 
Years  afterward,  Mr.  Gladstone  admitted  that  he  had  inherited  so  much 
of  embarrassment  and  labor  consequent  upon  the  misgovernment 
under  Beaconsfield,  that  he  had  no  just  conception  of  the  Irish  problem 
at  that  moment.  He  had  done  much  for  Ireland,  but  he  had  done 
just  enough  to  get  Ireland  on  the  way  in  the  evolution  of  righteous 
government,  or  in  a  revolution  which  they  seemed  willing  to  under- 
take. He  had  so  far  believed  that  the  Irish  question  was  settled  that 
the  Queen's  speech  did  not  mention  the  subject.  Mr.  William  E. 
Forster,  a  most  sagacious,  well-meaning  and  able  gentleman,  was  Chief 
Secretary  for  Ireland,  and  his  Bill,  known  as  the  Compensation  for 
Disturbance  Bill,  had  been  rejected  by  the  House  of  Lords,  leaving 
the  peasant  farmers  of  Ireland  to  make  their  own  fight  against  the 
landlords  who  persistently  evicted  them. 

In  August,   1880,   Mr.   Forster  said  that  he  did  not  think  the 

Houses  "would  expect  him  to  remain  the  instrument  of  that  injustice." 

More  than  17,000  persons  were  evicted,  and  in  most  cases  the  farms 

upon  which  they  had  lived  had  been  greatly  improved  by  them;  in 

20  305 


306  GLADSTONE:    A  BIOGRAPHICAL  STUDY. 

some  cases  the  Fen-country  had  been  redeemed  and  made  valuable  and 
productive  soil  by  their  labors.  The  League  attempted  to  do  what 
they  believed  the  Government  ought  to  have  been  doing,  and 
crime  was  rampant  everywhere.  Under  the  influence  of  Mr.  Forster, 
prosecutions  were  ordered  which  reached  Mr.  Parnell  and  his  col- 
leagues. Now  the  Gladstone  Government  and  the  Irish  contingent, 
led  by  Mr.  Parnell,  were  at  swords  points  in  the  House  of  Commons. 
Surely  the  Coercion  Bill  of  Mr.  Forster,  which  enabled  him,  by  sign- 
ing a  warrant,  to  put  any  man  in  jail  if  he  suspected  him  to  have  com- 
mitted an  offense,  and  all  this  without  trial,  was  a  hard  thing 
for  the  Irish  people  to  bear,  and  a  difficult  thing  for  Gladstone 
to  defend.  Murder  so  followed  upon  the  heels  of  outrage  in 
Ireland  that  it  may  be  said  the  Irish  people  forced  Mr.  Gladstone,  at 
the  very  hour  they  ought  to  have  awaited  his  evident  design  to  help 
them,  to  make  this  formidable  legislation  effective.  Never  was  Mr. 
Gladstone  placed  in  such  an  unhappy  position.  He  rushed  forward 
with  all  his  energies  to  the  introduction  of  his  Land  Bill,  and  on  April 
7th  he  offered  this  conciliatory  legislation.  At  last  he  defended  the 
proposition  that  the  State  ought  to  stand  between  the  domineering 
landlord  and  the  half-crushed  tenant  and  do  justice  to  both.  Of 
course  he  had  been  urged  so  rapidly  by  events  to  this  measure  that 
it  lacked  perfection,  and  it  could  not  represent  all  the  wisdom  and 
humanity  in  his  nature.  But  the  Bill  remains  as  a  most  heroically 
conceived  page  in  the  statutory  progress  of  mankind.  It  seemed  a 
brighter  day  had  come  when  the  Land  Commissioners,  which  the  Gov- 
ernment appointed  under  this  Act,  assembled  in  Dublin  Castle,  where 
they  were  selected,  and  confronted  the  bitterness  which  had 
grown  in  Ireland  from  the  fact  that  it  had  been  asserted  that  landlord- 
ism would  choose  these  Commissioners.  Parnell  had  advised  the  selec- 
tion of  a  few  special  cases,  out  from  the  multitude  which  the  farmers 
wanted,  to  place  in  the  hands  of  the  land  courts.  He  wished  in  this 
way  to  test  the  good  faith  of  the  Government.  Of  course  the  Gov- 
ernment regarded  this  as  equivocal  and  demagogic.  Even  Mr.  Glad- 
stone labored  with  Mr.  Parnell  and  insisted  that  the  action  gave  the 
appearance  of  wishing  to  keep  the  people  from  the  benefit  of  his  Act. 


THE   IRISH   PROBLEM   AGAIN.  307 

Mistake  followed  mistake  on  both  sides.  In  October  Parnell  and 
several  of  his  colleagues  in  the  House  of  Commons,  with  numerous 
other  leaders  elsewhere,  were  arrested,  the  Land  League  was  declared 
an  illegal  association,  and  everywhere  was  confusion.  Ireland  would 
not  wait  a  moment  for  Mr.  Gladstone,  though  at  that  hour  Mr.  Glad- 
stone was  making  such  speeches  as  should  indicate  his  lack  of  sympathy 
with  the  policy  of  coercion,  and  his  deep  study  on  the  subject  of 
Ireland's  woes.  He  said  to  the  representative  of  Ireland: 

"My  Lord  Mayor,  it  is  not  with  the  people  of  Ireland  that  we  are  at 
issue.  ...  It  is  not  on  any  point  connected  with  the  exercise  of  local 
government  in  Ireland — it  is  not  even  on  any  point  connected  with  what 
is  popularly  known  in  that  country  as  Home  Rule,  and  which  may  be  un- 
derstood in  any  one  of  a  hundred  senses,  some  of  them  perfectly  accepta- 
ble and  even  desirable;  others  of  them  mischievous  and  revolutionary. 
...  I  for  one  will  hail  with  satisfaction  and  delight  any  measure  of 
local  government  for  Ireland,  or  for  any  portion  of  the  country,  provided 
only  that  it  conform  to  this  one  condition — that  it  shall  not  break  down  or 
impair  the  supremacy  of  the  Imperial  Parliament." 

Hardly  less  fortunate  was  the  position  of  Mr.  Forster,  the  Chief 
Secretary.  There  is  no  doubt  that  Mr.  Forster's  failure  to  help  Ire- 
land broke  his  heart.  From  early  life  he  had  interested  himself  in 
her  relief.  No  man  had  given  more  freely  of  his  time  and  money  and 
labor,  and  he  sincerely  believed,  when  he  became  Chief  Secretary,  that 
something  could  be  done  definitely  to  conclude  the  unpleasantness  be- 
tween Ireland  and  England.  He  counted  too  much  upon  the  suspicion 
that  Irish  agitators  were  misrepresenting  the  people  of  Ireland  and 
were  leading  the  tenant-farmers  to  desire  and  demand  what  otherwise 
they  would  not  care  for.  He  had  too  much  faith  in  the  jail  as  a  means 
of  repressing  free  thought  on  political  subjects.  Every  priest  and 
poor-law  guardian  whom  he  locked  up  was  one  more  man  of  the 
many  who  were  thus  taken  from  the  communities  which  they  might 
have  controlled  and  restrained  from  acts  of  violence.  Ireland  was  a 
camp,  and  Mr.  Forster  rode  away  dispirited  and  broken. 

If  ever  the  great  heart  of  one,  set  upon  devising  liberal  things  for 
a  hot-headed  yet  wronged  people,  was  struck  in  the  moment  of  his 


3o8  GLADSTONE:    A  BIOGRAPHICAL  STUDY. 

deepest  hope  for  them,  it  was  Gladstone;  when  the  news  came  to 
London  that  Lord  Frederick  Cavendish,  the  new  Chief  Secretary,  and 
Mr.  Thomas  Burke,  an  official  in  Dublin  Castle,  had  been  foully  as- 
sassinated in  Phoenix  Park,  Dublin.  Mr.  Parnell  was  just  out  of  jail, 
and  Gladstone  had  then  arranged  to  bring  in  what  was  called  an 
Arrears  Bill  which  offered  great  relief  to  Ireland.  At  this  moment 
civilization  was  made  to  shudder  before  the  prostrate  and  hacked 
bodies  of  these  two  representatives  of  law  and  order.  The  storm 
which  raged  around  Gladstone  grew  in  fierceness,  and  it  almost  seemed 
at  one  time  that  the  opponents  of  his  Government  could  not  be  re- 
sponsible for  his  life.  Parnell  generously  offered  to  retire  from  Parlia- 
ment and  public  life,  if  Gladstone  said  the  word.  With  equal  magna- 
nimity and  with  dauntless  heroism  Gladstone  stood  in  the  midst  of 
the  tempest  like  a  pillar,  against  which  Parnell  was  commanded  still 
to  lean,  and  the  pillar  moved  not  while  the  tumult  raged.  Of  course 
the  effect  of  this  most  cruelly  conceived  and  executed  murder  vvas 
inimical  to  Ireland,  yet  at  that  moment  Gladstone  took  hold  of  the 
wronged  and  needy  country  with  more  affection  and  hope  than  ever. 
It  is  at  this  time  that  some  old  and  affectionate  friends  departed 
from  him.  Many  upon  whom  he  felt  he  had  the  right  to  count 
failed  to  indorse  his  course.  Principal  Tulloch's  biography  furnishes 
a  portrait  of  a  really  noble  mind  perplexed,  if  not  outraged  by  Glad- 
stone's policy: 

"Did  you  hear  yesterday,"  (May  7,  1882,)  he  says,  "the  appalling  news 
from  Ireland? 

"It  came  to  Eton  at  midday,  just  as  we  were  coming  out  of  the  chapel. 
Professor  Knight  had  come  down  from  town,  bringing  an  'Observer'  with 
the  dreadful  announcement.  Everybody  was  excited  beyond  measure. 
There  is  something  diabolical  in  the  business,  and  you  may  imagine  the 
state  in  which  London  has  been,  and  still,  is.  It  will  cover  the  end  of  Glad- 
stone's career  with  disastrous  disgrace,  and,  I  should  think,  break  to  pieces 
the  Liberal  party.  The  sooner,  in  fact,  this  is  done,  the  better.  The  first 
article  in  the  'Times'  expresses  my  views  about  the  matter  better  than 
anything  I  have  seen  elsewhere.  They  may  say  what  they  like  about  the 
Times,'  it  rises  to  a  great  occasion,  and  I  have  seen  no  writing  on  the 
subject  at  once  so  justly  indignant  and  yet  so  controlled.  Of  course  the 


THE  IRISH  PROBLEM   AGAIN.  309 

Government  acted  for  the  best;  but  nothing  can  excuse  their  course  in 
breaking  with  Mr.  Forster,  and  if  the  result  was  brought  about,  as  the  best 
informed  here  believe,  by  a  Radical  intrigue  within  the  Cabinet,  it  could 
only  end  in  disgraceful  ruin,  as  it  has  done.  W.'E.  G.  is  no  doubt  a  great 
man,  but  he  is  both  perilously  facile  and  self-willed,  which  is  a  disastrous 
combination  of  qualities  for  a  statesman;  and  that  his  star  should  sink,  as  I 
have  little  doubt  it  must,  in  such  a  miserable  and  awful  collapse,  is  pitiful 
indeed.  And  yet  who  can  take  his  place?  The  whole  party  business  has 
worked  itself  out,  and  what  the  country  needs  is  a  combination  of  wise  and 
sensible  men  on  both  sides,  which  the  Radicals,  of  course,  would  do  their 
best  to  prevent." 

Meantime  Mr.  Gladstone's  greatest  rival,  Lord  Beaconsfield,  had 
terminated  his  career.  It  was  Gladstone's  proposition  that  the  ashes 
of  his  most  distinguished  political  foe  should  be  buried  in  Westminster 
Abbey  with  proper  ceremonies,  but  Lord  Beaconsfield's  will  had  given 
other  instructions,  and  he  was  buried  at  Hughenden.  Mr.  Gladstone, 
on  the  Qth  of  May,  made  a  motion  that  Her  Majesty  be  presented  with 
an  address  asking  her  to  direct  the  erection  of  a  monument  in  West- 
minster Abbey  to  Lord  Beaconsfield.  In  spite  of  the  opposition  of 
the  Liberal  party,  after  a  noble  speech,  Mr.  Gladstone  carried  his  mo- 
tion. 

On  May  I5th  Gladstone  introduced  the  Arrears  Bill,  in  which  the 
Irish  Church  surplus,  and,  in  the  case  of  its  failure  to  furnish  enough 
money,  a  Consolidated  Fund  was  to  supply  tlie  amount  necessary  to 
pay  the  landlords  half  the  remaining  arrears  after  the  tenant  had  paid 
his  year's  rent  due  for  1881,  in  so  far  as  he  might,  the  holding  being 
under  thirty  pounds  valuation.  By  this  Bill  either  landlord  or  tenant 
could  apply  to  the  Land  Court  for  justice.  After  a  stormy  time  in 
the  House  of  Commons,  where  it  was  much  changed  in  unimportant 
particulars,  and  a  fight  in  the  House  of  Lords,  this  legislation  was 
passed. 

Now  stepped  into  the  arena  of  debate  the  towering  form  of  Charles 
Bradlaugh.  Sir  Stafford  Northcote's  motion  had  prevented  his  taking 
the  oath  on  the  7th  of  February.  The  effort  to  obtain  the  issue  of  a 
new  writ  for  Northampton  had  failed,  even  though  the  editor  of 
"Truth"  had  urged  it  with  singular  powers  of  persuasion.  There 


3io  GLADSTONE:    A  BIOGRAPHICAL  STUDY. 

seemed  nothing  else  for  Bradlaugh  to  do  but  to  swear  himself  in,  and 
one  day  the  Speaker  and  the  House  of  Commons  were  amazed  to  be- 
hold this  undesired  presence  before  the  table,  where  he  proceeded  to 
administer  the  oath  to  himself.  Still  Gladstone  would  not  interpose 
against  Bradlaugh,  though  the  scene  was  becoming  ludicrous  in  the 
extreme.  The  House  expelled  him,  and  Northampton  re-elected  him, 
and,  for  a  little  time,  Bradlaugh  reposed  upon  his  questionable  honors. 

One  of  the  inheritances  from  the  Government  of  Jingoism  under 
Beaconsfield  which  annoyfed  Gladstone  seriously,  was  the  Eastern  ques- 
tion. In  August,  1877,  Mr.  Gladstone  had  written  an  important  article 
in  the  "Nineteenth  Century"  called  "Aggression  on  Egypt  and  Free- 
dom in  the  East." 

He  thus  wrote  of  the  material  greatness  of  England,  saying: 

"The  root  and  pith  and  substance  of  the  material  greatness  of  our 
nation  lies  within  the  compass  of  these  islands;  and  is,  except  in  trifling 
particulars,  independent  of  all  and  every  sort  of  political  dominion  beyond 
them.  This  dominion  adds  to  our  fame,  partly  because  of  its  moral  and 
social  grandeur,  partly  because  foreigners  partake  the  superstitions,  which 
still  to  no  small  extent  prevail  among  us,  and  think  that  in  the  vast  aggre- 
gate of  our  scattered  territories  lies  the  main  secret  of  our  strength." 

He  continued,  saying: 

"Nations  are  quite  as  much  subject  as  individuals  to  mental  intem- 
perance; and  the  sudden  flash  of  wealth  and  pride,  which  engenders  in 
the  man  arrogant  vulgarity,  works  by  an  analogous  and  subtler  process 
upon  numbers  who  have  undergone  the  same  exciting  experience.  In- 
deed, they  are  the  more  easily  misled,  because  conscience  has  not  to  re- 
proach each  unit  of  a  mass  with  a  separate  and  personal  selfishness.  With 
respect  to  the  Slav  provinces,  the  'strong  man'  of  British  interests,  of 
traditional  policy,  and  of  hectoring  display,  has  been  to  a  great  degree 
kept  down  by  a  'stronger  man;'  by  the  sheer  stern  sense  of  right  and 
wrong,  justice  and  injustice,  roused  in  the  body  of  the  people  by  mani- 
festations of  unbounded  crime.  But  it  may  be  very  doubtful  whether, 
in  questions  where  ethical  laws  do  not  so  palpably  repress  the  solicita- 
tions of  appetite,  the  balance  of  forces  will  be  so  cast  among  us  as  to 
insure  the  continuance  of  that  wonderful  self-command,  with  which  the 
nation  has  now  for  so  long  a  time  resisted  temptation,  detected  imposture, 
encouraged  the  feeble  virtues,  and  neutralized  the  inveterate  errors  of  its 
rulers." 


CHAPTER  XXXVI. 
GLADSTONE  AND   BRIGHT. 

Egypt,  however,  had  been  occupied  by  English  troops,  and  under 
the  leadership  of  Arabi  Pasha,  an  insurrection  had  sprung  up  against 
the  Khedive.  Soon  the  English  guns  were  heard  bombarding  Alex- 
andria. 

Before  this  action  had  been  taken  an  event  occurred  in  the  history 
of  Mr.  Gladstone's  friendships  which  touched  his  heart  deeply.  On 
the  1 7th  of  July,  John  Bright  came  into  the  House  of  Commons,  and 
his  very  manner  betokened  that  his  relations  to  Mr.  Gladstone's  Gov- 
ernment had  been  changed.  On  the  second  bench  below  the  gangway 
he  sat,  pale  and  yet  massive  in  his  nobility,  and  every  eye  was  upon 
him.  It  was  almost  impossible  to  proceed  with  the  disposition  of  the 
usual  questions,  and  as  soon  as  this  matter  was  disposed  of,  the  room 
was  full  of  cries  for  Bright.  He  rose  with  great  dignity,  and  with  per- 
fect sobriety  of  utterance  and  evident  sorrow  addressed  the  House,  to 
which  Gladstone  replied  in  excellent  taste. 

Mr.  John  Bright  was  something  more  than  an  orator  of  highest 
quality  and  of  widest  popularity,  more  than  a  statesman  of  profound 
sagacity  and  constructive  force,  even  more  than  an  assailant  of  respecta- 
ble iniquity  and  a  champion  of  neglected  justice;  he  was  an  influence, 
a  spiritual  guide  in  practical  affairs,  a  serene  presence  in  stormy  hours, 
'a  fortress  of  belief  standing  for  a  divine  and  eternal  order,  a  pillar  of 
fire  radiant  and  even  warm, — brilliant,  genial,  and  pervasive — as  he 
moved  on  toward  the  dream  and  reality  of  the  measureless  peace.  In- 
deed, his  career  and  his  message  may  never  be  understood,  except  as 
one  recognizes  at  the  first  that  he  was  above  all  a  man  of  peace  and  what 
sort  of  peace  he  stood  for.  His  peace  was  not  the  peace  of  weakness 
awed  and  crushed  by  power,  not  the  peace  of  surrender  to  haughty 
evil,  not  the  peace  of  brainless  stagnation  and  thoughtless  acquiescence, 


312  GLADSTONE:    A  BIOGRAPHICAL  STUDY. 

still  less  the  peace  of  hopelessness  and  death;  but  his  was  the  peace  of 
power.  "My  peace  I  leave  with  you!"  said  his  Master,  and  Him  this 
affectionate  disciple  always  obeyed.  He  trusted  truth;  he  believed  in 
ideas;  he  risked  all  upon  principles;  he  was  sure  of  the  victory  for  peace, 
because  they  were  and  are  for  peace,  and  theirs  is  the  only  triumph  men 
or  nations  can  afford  to  seek  or  to  have.  He  detested  war,  because  war 
is  an  abandonment  of  the  conviction  that  ideas  rule.  He  knew  that 
military  glory  is  barbarous,  and  he  saw  that  a  nation  sheathed  in  steel 
is  and  must  be  a  weak  nation,  having  lost  confidence  in  the  power  of 
truth  to  make  its  way  in  the  world,  or,  worse  still,  having  truth  against 
her,  and  vainly  thinking  to  resist  such  a  divine  antagonist.  He  had 
been  reared  in  and  he  represented  an  industrial  constituency,  and  war 
paralyzes  industry  and  cheats  the  laborer.  He  was  one  of  the  common 
people,  a  friend  at  their  firesides,  and  war  runs  its  red  desolation  through 
the  homes  of  the  poor  and  the  middle  classes;  theirs  is  the  agony  and 
catastrophe  of  battle  urged  on,  too  often,  by  the  favored  classes  who 
leave  no  widows  and  orphans  by  the  bellicose  cnaracter  of  speech  or 
act,  who  also  succeed  in  arranging  it  so  that  the  taxation  consequent 
upon  the  triumph  of  hate  and  the  well-nigh  intolerable  burdens  result- 
ing from  the  anger  they  have  fomented,  must  be  borne  and  cared  for 
by  the  common  people.  Therefore  the  phrase  "honor"  did  not  mean 
"war"  in  his  or  in  the  true  vocabulary  of  England.  When  England 
went  to  war  with  China  and  with  Russia,  England  must  have  his  con- 
demnation and  Manchester  his  seat.  When  the  South  fired  on  Fort 
Sumter  to  protect  slavery,  he  knew  she  had  lost  faith  in  truth  or  truth 
was  against  her,  and  he  gave  his  eloquence  to  the  other  side,  whose 
captain  cried  out:  "Let  us  have  peace!"  When  the  guns  of  his  own 
dear  England  discharged  their  missiles  upon  Alexandria,  he  vacated 
his  lofty  seat  and  broke  his  official  relationship  with  his  great  and  loved 
friend,  Gladstone.  He  feared  and  loved  God  absolutely,  as  he  did  and 
could  none  else.  He  had  no  use  for  Jingoism,  be  it  born  in  any  quarter 
whatsoever.  "The  sword,"  said  Hugo,  "is  a  flash  in  the  darkness;  right 
is  the  eternal  ray."  And  Bright  believed  this  without  faltering. 

What  had  united  Gladstone  to  him  in  bonds  of  secure  and  deep 
friendship  was  not  learning,  for,  in  the  sense  in  which  Gladstone  was, 


GLADSTONE  AND   BRIGHT.  313 

Bright  was  not,  a  learned  man.  He  was  educated  in  the  lore  of  God,  and 
he  did  know  and  believe  in  the  possibilities  of  human  nature  ultimately 
to  see  and  to  do  the  truth.  Not  many,  but  some  languages  were  his; 
not  a  multitude,  but  several  philosophers  he  had  mastered;  not  all  the 
patristic  writers,  but  some  and  all  the  evangelists  and  apostles,  prophets 
and  heroes  he  knew  with  profoundest  sympathy;  not  the  whole  classical 
world  and  its  chief  figures  were  his  study,  but  he  knew  the  lowly,  the 
needy,  and  the  helpless  in  his  own  time;  not  ^Eschylus,  Euripides, 
Homer  and  Horace,  so  much  as  Dante,  Shakespeare,  Milton,  and  free- 
dom-loving Whittier,  fed  his  soul;  but  above  all  these,  he  so  loved  and 
understood  the  Bible,  and  he  so  nourished  his  mighty  spirit  on  its 
poetry,  its  worship,  its  hope,  that  Bright  and  Gladstone  found  a  com- 
panionship of  spirits  as  perfect  as  it  was  beautiful  and  blessed.  Deep 
were  the  streams  of  religious  aspirations  running  through  both  natures, 
though  Gladstone  was  a  High  Churchman  of  the  Episcopal  order, 
and  Bright  was  a  plain  Quaker.  Each  of  these  men  saw  light  in  His 
light  from  different  points  of  view.  Gladstone's  almost  immeasurable 
catholicity  of  mind  is  illustrated  in  the  letters  written  to  John  Henry 
Newman,  who  went  to  Rome,  and  John  Bright,  who  "stood  on  a  tomb- 
stone in  Rochdale  Churchyard  and  denounced  Church  Rates,"  and 
wanted  no  Bishop  in  the  House  of  Lords,  maintaining  that  the  Lord's 
Supper,  which,  to  Gladstone,  was  invested  with  sacramental  graces, 
could  be  only  a  friendly  meal  with  no  authority  as  to  its  recurrence.  In 
all  his  relations  with  Bright,  Gladstone  knew  that  he  was  dealing  with 
one  of  the  most  sincerely  religious,  as  well  as  one  of  the  most  coura- 
geously independent  men  in  all  the  kingdom.  He  was  aware  that  this 
man  had  no  use  whatever  for  his  own  doctrines  as  to  the  relations  of 
Church  and  State.  A  Christianity  needing  a  State's  support  is  the 
King  of  Kings  on  a  crutch  of  wood,  and  a  State  needing  an  established 
Church  is  a  government  leaning  on  a  well-paid  phantom.  Bright  had 
always  maintained  that  a  majority  of  the  nation  had  forsaken  the  Eng- 
lish Church,  and  he  thought  that  to  be  taxed  to  support  it  was  a  pro- 
posal worthy  of  opposition.  He  never  felt  that  a  Dissenter  ought  to 
be  treated  as  an  outlaw.  But  Gladstone  must  always  be  reckoned  upon 
'as  a  man  of  too  deep  piety  and  too  earnest  devotion  to  God  to  fail  in 


3H  GLADSTONE:    A  BIOGRAPHICAL  STUDY. 

appreciating  and  calling  to  his  aid  a  man  who  possessed  the  manly 
vigor  of  faith,  the  uncasuistical  zeal,  the  robust  austerity  of  conduct,  the 
affectionateness  of  devotion,  the  power  of  discerning  and  obeying  the 
highest  revelation  of  truth,  characteristic  of  the  nature  and  temper  of 
John  Bright. 

For  the  greater  part  of  the  career  of  each,  they  were  sworn  allies  in 
the  fight  for  the  victory  of  that  true  and  just  Liberalism  which  is  bound 
to  rule  the  future.  Gladstone  felt  with  Bright,  and  would  have  acted 
with  him  in  the  matter  of  the  Crimean  War,  if  the  former  had  not  been 
of  that  impressionable  and  agile  nature  which  yielded  perhaps  enough 
to  his  Oxford  training.  Gladstone's  father  had  used  slavery  to  advance 
his  interests  as  a  merchant;  the  Quakers  violently  abhorred  slavery, 
and  Gladstone  and  Bright  parted  on  the  question  of  the  Civil  War  in 
America,  although  it  must  be  remembered,  as  we  have  said,  in  justice 
to  Gladstone,  that  he  favored  the  education  of  the  slaves  held  by  Eng- 
lish interests,  and  hoped,  in  that  way,  to  help  them  to  freedom.  They 
were  bound  to  part  on  the  Irish  question,  and  Bright  had  opposed 
the  bombardment  of  Alexandria.  Greater  than  their  differences  were 
their  alliances,  for  each  of  these  men  could  pronounce  the  word  God, 
in  the  flood  of  splendid  eloquence,  and  not  feel  it  necessary  to  tell  a 
nerveless  and  materialistic  England  that  he  felt  bound  to  offer  an 
apology  for  his  belief  that  the  secret  of  all  true  statesmanship  lies  in 
finding  in  what  direction  the  Almighty  One  is  going.  These  men  had 
the  faith  that  God  moves  to  great  ends  by  means  of  and  through  human 
advancement,  and  statesmanship  is  the  art  of  getting  things, — trade, 
art,  institutions,  social  forms,  and  whatever  else — out  of  His  track, 
or,  better  still,  getting  them  all  into  His  chariot,  that  they  may  not  be 
crushed  beneath  the  wheels;  nay,  rather  that  they  may  be  borne  on  to 
His  ends. 

We  have  it  from  Gladstone's  own  lips  that  he  admired  and  relied 
upon  Bright's  oratorical  gifts  and  the  exercise  of  their  power  as  much 
as  Bright  did  upon  his  own.  In  eloquence,  they  were  as  different  only 
as  their  natures  and  methods  of  culture.  Gladstone  drew  from  foun- 
tains unknown  to  Bright's  limited  knowledge.  Bright  drank  from 
streams  unvisited  by  Gladstone's  unsurpassed  and  somewhat  aristocratic 


GLADSTONE   AND   BRIGHT.  315 

erudition.  ±  he  human  soul  Bright  knew,  and  it  is  greater  than  all  the 
literature  or  history  it  has  produced;  the  fairest  and  most  luminous  page 
it  has  written  or  inspired  Gladstone  knew,  but  these  alone  he  knew  as 
Bright  knew  the  soul  of  man,  and,  therefore,  while  Gladstone  surpassed 
him  by  reaching  laterally  the  length  and  breadth  of  man's  concerns  and 
treating  them  with  lucidity  and  learning,  Bright  surpassed  Gladstone  by 
reaching  depths  of  passion  and  power,  and  heights  of  aspiration  and 
hope  which  he  alone,  of  modern  English  orators,  saw  and  understood. 
When  Bright  poised  himself  for  flight,  when  the  concerns  of  suffering 
humanity  had  no  other  voice  amidst  the  din  of  ignorant  sovereignties 
clashing  themselves  to  fury,  or  the  patronizing  silence  of  intelligence 
softly  resting  in  its  fancied  security,  England  at  last  recognized  the  fact 
'that  he  had  a  realm  all  his  own,  and  so  easily  masterful  then  was  his 
intellect  and  conscience  of  even  his  great  physical  powers  that  he  rose 
to  heights  not  reached  by  men  of  less  lofty  spiritual  capability  of  imag- 
ination. 

Disraeli  alone  sparkled,  as  did  he,  in  lively  epigram,  and  burned, 
as  did  he,  in  caustic  irony  or  penetrative  wit.  Not  even  Disraeli  sur- 
passed him  in  scorching  sarcasm,  and  Bright  possessed  a  world  of 
humor,  sweet  and  wide,  to  which  the  great  British  phrase-maker  was  a 
stranger.  Speaking  of  Disraeli's  high-sounding  plan  for  Irish  pacifica- 
tion, he  said: 

"  ....  It  reminds  me  of  an  anecdote,  which  is  related  by  Addi- 
son.  Writing  about  the  curious  things  which  happened  in  his  time,  he  says 
there  was  a  man  who  made  a  living  by  cheating  the  country  people.  I 
do  not  know  whether  it  was  in  Buckinghamshire  or  not.  (Laughter.) 
He  was  not  a  cabinet  minister — he  was  only  a  montebank — (great  laugh- 
ter)— and  he  set  up  a  stall,  and  sold  pills  that  were  very  good  against  the 
earthquake.  (Roars  of  laughter.)  Well,  that  is  about  the  state  of  things 
that  we  are  in  now.  There  is  an  earthquake  in  Ireland.  Does  anybody 
doubt  it?" 

As  the  champion  of  Gladstone,  he  answered  Disraeli's  complaint 
that  the  former  had  "harassed  every  trade,  worried  every  profession, 
and  assailed  or  menaced  every  class,  institution  or  species  of  property 
in  the  country."  Bright  caught  the  word  "harass,"  as  he  often  found  a 


3i6  GLADSTONE:    A  BIOGRAPHICAL  STUDY. 

term  and  invested  it  with  an  unexpected  force  by  placing  it  to  a  surpris- 
ing use.  He  said  in  reply,  concerning  the  Tories:  "Without  doubt, 
if  they  had  been  in  the  Wilderness  they  would  have  condemned  the  Ten 
Commandments  as  a  harassing  piece  of  legislation,  though  it  does  hapr 
pen  that  we  have  the  evidence  of  more  than  thirty  centuries  to  the  wis- 
dom and  usefulness  of  those  commandments."  He  never  permitted 
himself  to  use  the  weapon  of  scorn  which  showed  its  edge  now  and 
then,  and  he  preferred  to  match  Disraeli's  air  of  superiority,  when  he 
sneered,  with  imperturbable  dignity  or  gay  humor.  Gladstone's  per- 
sonality, Disraeli's  personality,  if  he  really  had  one,  were  no  more  truly 
set  forth  in  their  speeches  than  was  Bright's  in  his  own.  In  tacking 
ship,  as  we  have  indicated,  there  are  moments  when  the  sailor  himself 
seems  to  depend  on  a  most  tricky  wind,  and  Gladstone's  mind  often 
seemed  quite  uncertain  as  to  just  what  he  would  do  with  the  sails.  He 
says  "perhaps,"  "one  might  say,"  "possible  view  of  the  case,"  and  numer- 
ous other  phrases  which  make  one  feel  that  he  does  not  grasp  the  lines 
with  any  clear  plan  as  to  the  next  movement.  But  he  is  handling  a  ship 
on  board  of  which  is  a  noisy  lot  of  people  who  have  to  be  consulted — 
he  is  feeling  of  them,  feeling  of  the  sea,  feeling  of  the  air  itself.  When 
he  knows,  his  every  nerve  is  lightning,  and  his  slightest  touch  has  the 
assurance  of  measureless  strength  allied  with  a  purpose  as  inevitable 
as  gravitation.  Bright  had  only  the  greatest  admiration  for  Gladstone's 
ability  to  do  this  and  for  his  boundless  industry  and  happy  fortune  in 
keeping  in  with  the  crew,  wind,  and  tide,  and  yet  ruling  them.  But  there 
it  ended,  for  Bright  was  as  little  laborious  as  even  a  poetic  and  eloquent 
commoner  could  be.  Gladstone  scarcely  ever  withdrew  from  the  win- 
dows of  himself, — his  eyes  shone  with  the  soul  looking  out,  eager  to 
flash  its  message  or  to  scan  the  situation.  He  almost  never  seemed  other 
than  intense  and  interested.  Bright  often  went  far  behind  those  blue 
eyes  of  his  and  retired  from  the  fortress-like  countenance,  and,  having 
found  a  good  soft  place,  he  rested.  When  he  came  back  he  saw  straight 
before  him,  and  had  not  a  moment  for  an  ambiguous  phrase;  the  foe 
was  clearly  beheld;  the  stroke  was  brilliant  and  sure  as  fate. 


CHAPTER  XXXVII. 
EGYPT  AND  DEFEAT. 

Meantime  the  British  Government  was  attempting  to  put  down  the 
rebellion,  and  an  important  expedition  under  General  Wolseley  had 
routed  the  Egyptians  out  of  Tel-el-Kebir.  There  can  be  no  question 
that  Gladstone  had  been  forced  into  despatching  this  army,  and  that, 
as  Prime  Minister,  he  was  following  up  an  initiative  which  his  own 
brain  and  heart  and  conscience  never  would  have  made,  but  for  which 
he  was  now  to  bear  the  responsibility,  and  for  whose  unfortunate  issue 
he  was  to  carry  odium  to  the  end  of  his  career.  The  Jingo  policy  of 
Beaconsfield  had  gotten  into  the  blood  of  the  present  Government, 
and  it  was  impossible  for  Gladstone  and  other  Liberal  leaders  to  get 
it  out  until  the  war  was  on,  and  everywhere  in  England  Tories  and 
dissenting  Liberals  were  taunting  Gladstone  for  having  adopted  a 
policy  as  fantastic  and  belligerent  as  Beaconsfield's,  both  toward  Ire- 
land in  Acts  of  Coercion  and  toward  Egypt  in  prosecuting  strife  in 
the  Soudan.  London  opinion  was  noisy  and  uncontrollable  under 
the  leadership  of  the  "Pall  Mall  Gazette."  It  had  previously  demanded 
that  at  once  no  less  a  prominent  figure  and  brave  soldier  than  Charles 
George  Gordon  should  be  sent  to  handle  the  difficulties  at  Khartoum. 
Sir  Garnet  Wolseley's  expedition  was  now  pressing  on  to  his  relief. 
Never  were  two  men  more  deeply  trusted  than  were  Gordon  and 
Wolseley.  The  former  had  always  carried  the  heart  of  the  British 
nation.  In  1880  he  had  visited  Ireland  and  had  written  to  the  "London 
Times:"  "I  have  lately  been  over  the  Southwest  of  Ireland,  in  the 
hope  of  discovering  how  some  settlement  could  be  made  of  the  Irish 
question,  which,  like  a  fretting  cancer,  eats  away  our  vitals  as  a  nation. 
No  half-measure  acts,"  he  added,  "which  left  the  landlord  with  any  say 
to  the  tenantry  of  these  portions  of  Ireland,  will  be  of  any  use.  They 


318  GLADSTONE:    A  BIOGRAPHICAL  STUDY. 

would  be  rendered,  as  past  Land  Acts  in  Ireland  have  been,  quite 
abortive;  for  the  landlords  will  insert  clauses  to  do  away  with  their 
force.  Any  half-measures  will  only  place  the  Government  face  to 
face  with  the  people  of  Ireland  as  the  champion  of  the  landlord  class." 
He  proposed  that  £80,000,000  be  spent  to  transform  the  southwestern 
portion  of  Ireland  into  Crown  Land,  where  landlordism  should  not 
reign. 

England  had  heard  him  and  admired  him  unreservedly  for  his 
heroism,  his  high  personal  character,  and,  above  all,  for  that  glowing 
chivalry  which  his  presence  kindled  in  the  hearts  of  those  who  knew 
him.  Wolseley  as  a  soldier  had  proven  himself  able  to  carry  through 
other  daring  achievements  such  as  this.  Far  away  from  the  scene, 
England  watched  day  by  day,  hoping  that  Wolseley  might  be  able  to 
relieve  Gordon. 

At  the  instant  when  Gordon  was  most  dear  to  the  heart  of  the 
realm,  and  when  Wolseley  was  thought  to  be  on  the  point  of  relieving 
him,  the  news  came  to  England  that  Gordon  had  been  murdered  at 
Khartoum.  In  this  awful  calamity  the  people  of  England  almost  forgot 
that  Gladstone  had  concluded  the  war  with  the  Boers  in  South  Africa 
in  a  way  that  afterwards  brought  honor  to  his  name.  His  Government 
blundered  here.  London  was  wild  with  wrath  against  Gladstone  for 
the  failure  of  his  Government  to  relieve  Gordon.  He  was  the  subject 
of  scorn  and  severest  censure  on  almost  every  hand.  Even  a  year  after 
the  sad  event,  Andrew  Lang  found  an  echo  in  the  English  heart  for 
such  a  sonnet  as  this: 


"To-morrow  is  a  year  since  Gordon  died! 
A  year  ago  to-night,  the  Desert  still 
Crouched  on  the  spring,  and  panted  for  its  fill 

Of  lust  and  blood.    Their  old  art  statesman  plied, 

And  paltered,  and  evaded,  and  denied; 
Guiltless  as  yet,  except  for  feeble  will, 
And  craven  heart,  and  calculated  skill 

In  long  delays,  of  their  great  homicide. 


EGYPT  AND   DEFEAT.  319 

"A  year  ago  to-night  't  was  not  too  late. 

The  thought  comes  through  our  mirth,  again,  again; 
Methinks  I  hear  the  halting  foot  of  Fate 

Approaching  and  approaching  us;    and  then 
Comes  cackle  of  the  House,  and  the  Debate! 

Enough;    he  is  forgotten  amongst  men." 

There  can  be  no  doubt  that  Englishmen  will  be  divided  for  many 
years  to  come  as  to  the  value  of  Mr.  Gladstone  as  a  minister  in  foreign 
affairs.  Americans  have  a  point  of  view  with  reference  to  this  topic 
which  is  not  shared  by  our  English  friends.  There  has  never  been  a 
spirit  in  America,  and  there  never  can  be,  let  us  hope,  such  as  England 
experienced  during  those  days  when  a  Jingo  policy  was  a  passport  in 
British  society,  and  when  any  most  stupid  man  who  talked  about  Im- 
perial plans  and  Imperial  interests,  and  Imperial  enterprises,  was  sup- 
posed to  possess  a  sagacity  to  which  men  of  the  intellectual  caliber  of 
Mr.  Gladstone,  could  not,  by  some  unhappy  fault  of  nature,  attain.  The 
truth  is  that  Gladstone's  indiscretions  as  a  foreign  Minister  have  all 
been  owing  to  his  yielding  somewhat  to  a  Toryism  from  which  at 
last  he  entirely  freed  himself.  He  did  not  have  use  for  their  word  "Im- 
perialism;" he  was  the  famous  opposer  of  their  schemes.  No  man 
had  a  more  serious  or  complicated  problem  that  he,  an  English 
statesman  living  in  the  time  of  Benjamin  Disraeli,  who  found  that  char- 
acteristic and  pestiferous  demand  amongst  Englishmen  to  have 
a  hand  in  everybody's  affairs  and  to  reduce  the  islands  of  the  sea  and 
the  States  of  both  continents,  if  possible,  into  a  sort  of  federation 
which  shall  have  its  chief  loyalty  at  Westminster  and  its  chief  glory 
in  the  sovereign  of  the  British  Isles.  The  conception  of  peace  which 
has  ruled  in  England  for  many  years  has  not  been  such  as  would  allow 
a  man  like  Gladstone  to  be  thoroughly  trusted.  He  found  endless 
difficulty  in  going  as  far  as  he  did  toward  peace  with  all  the  world, 
because  of  the  fact  that  the  little  Island  gets  crowded,  and  that  Jingo- 
ism, in  one  form  or  another,  contaminates  the  air.  Certainly  no  one 
can  condemn  Gladstone, — perhaps  with  a  single  exception,  when  Gor- 
don was  not  relieved  at  Khartoum  in  time,  and  we  reverently  believe 


320  GLADSTONE:    A  BIOGRAPHICAL  STUDY. 

that  there  may  have  been  insuperable  difficulties  before  Gladstone  in 
this  case;  he  had  been  slow  to  get  into  trouble,  but  powerful  and  rapid 
enough  when  the  strife  was  on.  Surely  his  treatment  of  Russia  gave 
the  conscience  and  business  sense  of  England  a  noble  example  of  calm- 
ness, and  Gladstone  was  surrounded  by  as  much  bellicose  talk  as  ever 
annoyed  a  British  statesman. 

It  is  hard  to  say  whether  the  Tory  party  has  always  wanted  war  be- 
cause Gladstone  was  a  man  of  peace,  or  has  always  hated  Mr.  Glad- 
stone because  it  wanted  war  for  the  sake  of  seeming  to  be  patriotic  and 
thoroughly  British. 

There  is  no  doubt  that  Gladstone  was  a  man  of  large  sentiment, 
and  that  John  Bull  is  not  particularly  sentimental  except  in  minor 
matters.  Disraeli  could  not  hesitate  with  reference  to  what  ought  to 
be  done  in  view  of  the  Bulgarian  atrocities,  for  Toryism  did  not  believe 
much  in  atrocities  that  would  annoy  its  Administration,  and  Disraeli 
could  not  vacillate.  He  was  cock-sure,  as  Toryism  is  always  cock-sure 
of  what  is  to  be  done.  The  few  phrases  of  his  with  regard  to  an 
Imperial  policy  might  have  lifted  Tory  England  to  her  feet  in  antag- 
onism to  some  people  who  would  fain  keep  their  own  territory  and 
maintain  their  own  Government,  but  Toryism  would  never  lavish  a 
taking  phrase  in  the  name  of  humanity.  Inhumanity  never  vacillates; 
it  goes  at  things  with  a  bludgeon.  It  is  a  remarkable  fact  that  nothing 
else  hits  the  rabble  on  the  street  and  tickles  the  fancy  of  one  of  those 
relics  of  feudalism  safe  in  his  castle,  so  certainly  as  opposition  to  a 
foreign  policy  conceived  by  a  man  of  peace.  When  convictions  and 
ideas  are  the  basis  of  a  man's  action,  he  may  be  supposed  to  hesitate 
and  to  consider,  as  did  Mr.  Gladstone.  When  he  believes  in  persua- 
sion and  is  such  a  master  of  debate  as  was  Gladstone,  he  is  perhaps 
likely  to  argue  too  long  and  to  seek  to  win  over  a  foe  while  the  foe  is 
preparing  to  deal  him  a  death-blow.  But  the  error  in  this  direction 
is  certainly  less  ignoble  than  the  error  in  the  other  direction.  Glad- 
stone's powerful  personality  had  stood  for  peace  and  for  ideas.  He 
had  undertaken  the  enterprise  of  Government  with  the  faith  that  men 
must  be  reasoned  with  and  persuaded  from  wrong  causes  to  right  causes. 
Whenever  any  nation  in  weakness  has  looked  toward  England's 


GLADSTONE  AND  LI  HUNG  CHANG 


CATHERINE  GLADSTONE 


EGYPT  AND   DEFEAT.  321 

strength,  it  has  believed  also  that,  with  Mr.  Gladstone  at  the  helm,  Eng- 
land could  be  reasoned  with,  and  perhaps  persuaded.  No  small  nation 
has  ever  thought  that  her  Toryism  had  any  such  qualities.  So  long  as 
Gladstone  held  sway  it  was  evident  that  his  remarkable  abilities,  his 
regard  for  the  opinions  of  others,  and  his  high  personal  character,  as 
well  as  his  confidence  in  Christian  principles,  made  it  possible  to  accept 
justly  from  the  nation  of  which  he  was  a  single  citizen,  some  such  rea- 
sonable adjustment  of  difficulties  just  arisen  as  would  postpone  and 
perhaps  nullify  the  barbarism  of  war.  Mr.  Gladstone  always  believed 
in  and  practiced  the  noble  art  of  educating  his  party.  Of  course,  he 
influenced  his  party  by  the  impetuosity  of  his  eloquence  and  the  rich- 
ness of  his  imagination,  and  he  added  to  the  impulse  and  im- 
aginativeness of  the  English  people.  But  he  did  not  train  them  to 
yield  to  the  impulse  for  contention,  nor  to  imagine  reasons  for  strife 
where  none  existed.  A  "vigorous  foreign  policy"  is  not  Gladstone's 
phrase,  and  taken  alone,  it  is  a  very  silly  phrase  from  any  one.  A  rea- 
sonable foreign  policy  is  much  nobler,  even  though  such  a  policy 
should  pause  and  reflect  and  argue  and  seek  to  persuade  one  moment 
too  long,  in  a  given  case.  An  unreasoning  man — that  is,  a  man  who 
is  not  open  to  anything  which  may  change  his  opinion — is  always  sure 
that  the  reasoning  man  is  fickle  and  incompetent;  and  a  soul  able 
to  poise  and  consider,  as  was  the  soul -of  Gladstone,  is  very  certain  to  be 
accused  of  procrastination. 

Gladstone's  policy  in  Egypt  was  not  "vigorous,"  either  in  the  direc- 
tion of  annexation  or  in  the  direction  of  a  protectorate.  He  had 
already  asserted  that  he  would  be  true  to  the  Liberal  opinion  t>f  Eng- 
land in  1880,  that  he  understood  the  principles  on  which  that  victory 
was  won,  and  that  victory  did  not  contemplate  a  Tory  program.  To 
assume  supreme  authority  in  Egypt  was  not  what  Gladstone's  con- 
science or  intellect  meant  to  do.  The  Beaconsfield  ministry  had  been 
condemned.  Whenever  Gladstone  has  failed  to  follow  out  a  Tory 
policy  with  reference  to  a  foreign  country,  as  he  did  in  this  case,  he 
has  been  called  a  man  indifferent  to  the  honor  of  the  British  Empire. 
"The  honor  of  the  British  Empire"  is  a  phrase,  and  a  poor  phrase,  in 

a  case  like  this.     The  Disraeli  Government  was  dishonorable  to  the 
21 


322  GLADSTONE:    A  BIOGRAPHICAL  STUDY. 

ideals  of  the  English  nation  worthiest  of  English  loyalty  and  devotion. 
Still  more,  when  he  was  leader  in  the  House  of  Commons  in  1877,  he 
offered  resolutions  upon  the  action  of  the  Government  relative  to  Tur- 
key. He  wished  to  avert  the  war  which  Beaconsfield  was  fomenting. 
Great  Britain  and  Russia,  however,  could  not  discipline  or  advise  Tur- 
key successfully.  But  Gladstone  was  anxious  that  the  trial  should  be 
made.  He  was  therefore  not  to  be  condemned  because,  afterwards, 
when  a  war  broke  out,  he  could  not  follow  up  that  war  with  his  per- 
sonal enthusiasm.  It  may  seem  like  a  plea  for  Sunday-school  politics, — 
but,  after  all,  Sunday-school  politics  have  civilized  most  of  the  planet, — 
if  we  say  that  Mr.  Gladstone  had  been  a  Christian  and  believed  that  the 
blessings  of  peace  are  greater  than  the  triumphs  of  war.  Extension  of 
territory  for  the  sake  of  Imperial  England  is  not  commending  itself 
to  the  greatest  or  best  of  English  thinkers.  Annexation  is  not  a 
victory  for  civilization  in  every  case.  Gladstone's  relations  to 
Egyptian  affairs  had  been  imposed  upon  him  by  inheritance,  and  by 
the  fact  that  then  there  was  no  different  policy  which  would  not  have 
wrought  greater  disaster.  No  Englishman  in  1886  could  say  that  he 
was  particularly  proud  of  the  fact  that  England  had  meddled  with 
Egyptian  affairs.  But  England  demanded  that  Gladstone  should  do 
something.  He  adopted  a  policy  in  the  face  of  the  fact  that  another 
policy  would  have  abolished  the  liberty  of  Egypt,  and  that  it  would 
have  imperiled  England's  advance  in  the  Indian  Empire.  There  is  no 
question  that  Gordon's  personality,  chivalrous,  saintly,  heroic,  gave 
Mr.  Gladstone's  good  name  a  more  serious  difficulty  out  of  which  it 
should  come  unscathed,  than  if  he  had  been  less  knightly  and  beloved. 
One  must  ask  what  would  have  been  the  case  if  a  more  practicable  and 
less  romantic  nature  had  entered  into  the  service  of  the  Government, 
before  Gladstone  is  condemned  in  a  wholesale  manner.  It  is  doubtful 
if  even  Gladstone's  imagination  might  have  anticipated  the  difficulties 
which  Gordon's  own  genius  created.  Surely  the  expedition  into  the 
Soudan  by  General  Hicks  was  not  very  wise,  and  Gladstone  was  not 
responsible  for  it.  The  trap  into  which  Gordon  walked  was  made 
certainly  not  less  fatal  by  his  own  peculiarities  of  nature.  He  ought 


EGYPT   AND   DEFEAT. 


323 


perhaps  never  to  have  been  sent  on  the  mission.  The  garrisons  could 
have  made  their  own  adjustments  as  well  as  he,  and  they  could  have 
made  them  better  than  he,  who,  as  the  most  fascinating  and  admired 
figure  of  the  moment,  was  offered  as  the  one  who  ought  to  go,  largely 
because  the  excitement  of  party  feeling  had  been  lifted  to  that  point 
by  an  unpatriotic  opposition  to  the  ministry.  Here  was  Mr.  Glad- 
stone's mistake.  He  yielded  to  public  opinion  in  London,  and  it  seems 
almost  as  theatrical  a  thing  as  Lord  Beaconsfield  could  have  done.  It 
was  a  moment  in  which  the  most  unscrupulous  lovers  of  money  slipped 
into  partnership  with  unselfish  chivalry,  and  the  sacrifice  was  made. 
Here  Mr.  Gladstone  was  working  for  peace.  He  might  have  stepped 
down  from  office  rather  than  agree  to  the  shout  of  London:  "Send 
Gordon!"  But  then  it  would  have  been  to  let  in  upon  the  Parliament 
a  party  whose  policy  was  opposed  to  the  every  truest  interest,  both  of 
England  at  home  and  Egypt  abroad.  There  is  no  real  reason  why  Eng- 
land should  consider  some  of  her  own  citizens  unpatriotic  and  Ameri- 
cans Anglophobists  because  it  appears  to  them  that  she  is  not  created 
by  destiny  or  Providence  to  dictate  to  all  the  world.  Gladstone's  idea 
of  what  constitutes  a  great  nation  will  never  be  satisfactory  to  those 
who  believe  that  British  sovereignty  ought  to  grow  by  extension  of 
territory.  And  it  was  with  these  ideas  in  mind  that  a  large  number  of 
Nonconformists,  who  had  been  exiled  from  him,  gave  Mr.  Gladstone 
their  unswerving  support  in  his  later  dealings  with  Russia. 

Never  had  a  man  worked  more  definitely  and  self-sacrificingly  for 
honorable  peace.     This  was  the  refrain  in  all  he  said: 

"War  for  a  bad  cause  has  this  apology,  that  the  bad  cause  may  in 
good  faith  be  mistaken  for  a  good  one;  and  in  this  case  it  is  preferable 
to  a  war  for  no  cause  at  all.  The  blind  fanaticism  which  calls  evil  good 
and  good  evil,  and  which  includes  something  besides  self  in  the  scope  of 
its  desire,  is  less  ignoble  than  the  cynical  indifference  which  accepts  war 
and  all  its  horrors  without  watching  or  caring  how  lie  the  weights  in 
the  scale  of  justice.  Men  talk  as  if  we  were  free  to  fight,  as  a  Scotch  lord 
would  fight  in  Edinburgh  three  centuries  ago  for  the  centre  of  the  cause- 
way; or  as  a  boy  fought  at  Eton  in  my  time  to  determine  whether  he 
could  or  could  not  'lick'  another  boy;  or  as  in  Ireland,  at  a  fair,  shillelahs 
were  flourished,  and  heads  cruelly  mauled  and  broken,  for  the  simple 


324  GLADSTONE:    A  BIOGRAPHICAL  STUDY. 

preference  of  one  name  to  another;  or  for  the  pleasure  of  that  excitement 
which  fighting  brings.  If  we  are  to  revive,  in  the  present  daylight,  the 
levities  of  childhood,  the  manners  of  a  semi-barbarous  age,  or  the  ex- 
cesses pardonable  in  an  over-driven  people,  it  is  high  time  to  take  heed 
and  make  some  inquiry  concerning  the  paths  of  honour  and  of  shame. 
A  war  undertaken  without  cause  is  a  war  of  shame  and  not  of  honour." 

Thus  and  thus  only  did  he  look  with  hope  on  England's  future. 

Gladstone's  Government  was  now  trembling  under  the  shock  of  the 
repeated  attacks  made  by  the  Opposition  from  points  of  view  which 
these  facts  supplied  them.  On  the  I3th  of  December,  1882,  however, 
his  house  was  opened,  and  friends,  postmen  and  telegraph  messengers 
brought  countless  messages  while  he  was  celebrating  the  fact  that,  fifty 
years  before,  on  that  day,  he  had  entered  Parliament. 

In  the  course  of  the  year  1883  his  health  was  seriously  affected,  but 
a  month  or  so  at  Cannes,  and  the  delight  of  having  his  family  and  books 
about  him  at  Hawarden  Castle  reinvigorated  the  old  statesman,  and 
he  was  soon  back  in  Parliament,  introducing  an  Affirmation  Bill  which 
was  aimed  at  settling  the  Bradlaugh  controversy.  In  this  debate  he  ut- 
tered eloquence  which  for  brilliancy  and  force  was  not  surpassed  by  any 
effort  of  his  life.  The  Bill  failed,  and  he  turned  his  attention  to  the 
Agricultural  Bill  and  the  Corrupt  Practices  Bill.  He  advocated  a 
Franchise  Act*  which  gave  the  counties  Household  Suffrage,  and  a  new 
law  for  the  redistribution  of  seats  in  Parliament.  But  the  fate  of  his 
Government  was  decided.  On  the  proposal  of  the  Budget  he  was 
defeated,  and  while  the  streets  of  London  were  still  echoing  the  words: 
"Bradlaugh  and  Gordon,"  Mr.  Salisbury  was  made  Prime  Minister  of 
England. 


*Mr.  James  Russell  Lowell  talked  with  him  at  this  time  on  the 
Franchise  Bill,  and  congratulated  him  that  he  had  included  Ireland.  He 
said  to  Lowell:  "I  had  rather  the  heart  were  torn  out  of  my  breast  than 
that  clause  out  of  the  Bill." 


CHAPTER  XXXVIII. 
CALLED    AGAIN    TO    POWER. 

It  was  evident  in  the  early  autumn  that  England  was  again  disap- 
pointed with  Toryism.  The  battle  was  now  on  and  speakers  were  dis- 
coursing everywhere  in  the  Kingdom.  It  was  clear  to  all  Englishmen 
when  Parliament  was  prorogued  August  I4th,  that  any  appeal  to  the 
country  would  cause  widespread  enthusiasm  and  profound  interest  on 
both  sides.  Mr.  Gladstone's  manifesto  was  an  address  characteristic  of 
his  spirit  and  its  increasing  intensity  of  conviction,  and  Midlothian  was 
asked  again  to  help  him  to  "maintain  the  supremacy  of  the  Crown,  the 
unity  of  the  Empire,  and  all  the  authority  necessary  for  the  conserva- 
tion of  that  unity."  He  trusted  that  the  Electors  believed  with  him 
that  this  was  "the  first  duty  of  every  representative  of  the  people." 
There  was  one  sentence  in  his  manifesto  charged  with  unsuspected 
and  irrepressible  significance.  He  said:  "Subject  to  this  governing 
principle,  every  grant  to  portions  of  the  country  of  enlarged  powers 
for  the  management  of  their  own  affairs,  is,  in  my  view,  not  a  source  of 
danger,  but  a  means  of  averting  it,  and  in  the  nature  of  a  new  guaran- 
tee for  increased  cohesive  happiness  and  strength." 

Scotland  had  been  Gladstonian,  but  it  must  not  be  supposed  that 
all  Scotch  people  were  pleased  now.  Principal  Tulloch's  biographer, 
writing  of  that  time,  says: 

"In  the  Highlands  there  was  nothing  to  be  heard  of  but  Mr.  Glad- 
stone's triumphal  progress,  and  the  fictitious  devotion  of  the  people  every- 
where. That  such  a  cheap  enthusiasm  should  make  the  Queen  'less  care- 
ful of  the  notice  and  applause  of  the  multitudes'  was  what  the  Principal 
feared;  while  he  was  himself  much  irritated  and  annoyed  to  hear  that  the 
Premier,  who  encouraged  and  accepted  these  demonstrations  'as  never 
Premier  did  before,'  had,  contrary  to  his  pledge  not  to  hear  one  side 
without  hearing  the  other,  received  a  deputation  from  the  Disestablish- 
ment party,  'It  was  mean  of  him/  says  the  disgusted  champion  of  the 


326  GLADSTONE:    A  BIOGRAPHICAL  STUDY. 

Church,  who  thought  the  quasi  royal  progress  Very  vulgar-minded/  as 
well  as  in  very  bad  taste.  When  he  was  brought  into  direct  contact  with 
the  hero  of  these  ovations  some  days  later,  his  commentary  was  no  doubt 
sharpened  by  these  causes  of  offense." 

"September  17. 

''The  weather  is  perfectly  lovely  here  today,  and  Mr.  Gladstone  has 
been  planting  a  tree — not  cutting  one  down.  It  is  really  amusing  the  kind 
of  incense  offered  to  him.  It  does  not  excite  respect,  although  I  dare  say  it 
is  genuine.  I  had  a  talk  with  him  last  night,  and  this  morning  I  had  the 

amusement  of  sitting  next  Mrs. ,  who  can  hardly  say  a  dozen  words 

without  introducing  his  name.  There  is  really  an  absurd  simplicity  or 
want  of  humor  about  it.  'He  is  so  simple,'  this  is  the  'noble  feature  of 
his  character.'  Sancta  simplicitas!  is  all  one  can  say.  If  he  is  simple, 
who  is  double?  But,  really,  I  must  not  mock." 

In  December,  some  one,  who  did  achieve  the  feat  at  least  of  getting 
a  hearing,  little  knowing  the  mischief  he  did,  or  else  calculating 
shrewdly  to  create  an  excitement  in  which  it  was  impossible  for  most 
people  to  think  clearly,  published  a  paragraph,  over  no  name,  announc- 
ing that  Gladstone  was  ready  to  deal  with  the  demand  of  the  Irish  for 
Home  Rule  in  a  liberal  spirit,  should  he  be  returned  to  power. 

The  manifesto  to  which  reference  has  already  been  made  contained 
also  this  passage:  "History  will  consign  the  name  of  every  man  who, 
having  it  in  his  power,  does  not  aid  or  prevent  or  retard  an  equitable 
sentiment  between  Ireland  and  Great  Britain." 

Gladstone's  enemies  and  Gladstone's  friends  pointed  to  this  state- 
ment, and  his  foes  cried  out  immediately  that  the  Grand  Old  Man  had 
adopted  the  policy  of  Home  Rule  for  Ireland,  and  must  henceforth  be 
regarded  as  its  champion.  A  volley  of  questions  was  poured  upon  Mr. 
Gladstone's  head,  to  which  he  gave  no  answer.  He  was  sure  of  his  own 
position;  when  the  right  time  came  there  would  be  no  question  as  to 
his  plan  and  the  method  by  which  he  expected  to  defend  it.  The  Tory 
Government  felt  the  ground-swell  beneath  it.  Their  representatives 
were  horrified  and  many  good  people  feared  that  the  downfall  of  the 
British  Empire  was  imminent.  Such  sane  and  progressive  men  as  John 
Morley  were  full  of  hope  that  a  career  so  splendid  and  prophetic  as 
Gladstone's  would  crown  itself  by  giving  Ireland  a  just  government, 


CALLED    AGAIN    TO    POWER.  327 

The  air  was  full  of  rumors.  It  was  believed  by  many  that  Lord 
Beaconsfield's  wily  successor,  Lord  Salisbury,  had  shrewdly  arranged 
things  with  the  Irish  National  party.  It  was  believed  by  another  large 
section  that  the  Parnellites  were  for  Gladstone  and  his  program.  Glad- 
stone's speech  at  Edinburgh  made  it  clear  that  he  believed  that  a  ma- 
jority must  be  returned  great  enough  to  get  on  without  the  Irish  vote, 
else  the  Irish  question  could  not  be  properly  treated.  It  is  true  that 
the  Irish  National  League  called  upon  all  Irishmen  to  vote  for  the 
Tories.  Parnell  was  in  a  strange  position,  and  the  Irish  National  Party 
was  in  Salisbury's  hands,  when  Gladstone  was  elected  by  a  tremendous 
majority.  Meantime  the  Irish  began  to  understand  Gladstone,  and  the 
Irish  Nationalists  saw  that  their  hope  was  with  the  Liberal  party.  Later 
on  it  was  seen  that  the  Liberal  party  itself,  to  which  they  had  come,  was 
disunited  and  feeble. 

In  January,  it  was  no  longer  possible,  with  what  was  no  doubt  a 
complete  Liberal  triumph,  for  the  Tory  Government  to  stand;  the 
Queen  sent  for  Mr.  Gladstone  to  come  to  Osborne,  and  he  was  there 
made  Prime  Minister  of  England  again.  He  had  hardly  been,  as  it  was 
in  this  case,  for  the  third  time,  called  to  this  position  of  authority,  until 
many  of  his  friends  and  companions  in  office  declared  that  if  they  under- 
stood his  policy,  they  could  have  none  of  him.  Only  the  three  hundred 
that  lapped,  as  in  old  Israel,  stayed  with  Gideon. 

It  seems  strange  to  an  American  student  of  English  public  opinion 
and  its  development,  and  especially  to  those  acquainted  with  the  vital 
quality  of  Mr.  Gladstone's  mind  and  his  unwavering  faith  that  no  sub- 
ject is  truly  within  the  limits  of  political  discussion,  and  especially  of 
political  action,  until  the  people  are  educated  upon  that  subject,  that 
there  should  have  been  horror  of  his  past  conduct  on  the  Home  Rule 
question  expressed  on  the  part  of  men  like  Lord  Hartington,  Lord 
Derby,  and  Lord  Selbourne.  It  is  no  less  remarkable  that  any  one 
should  have  been  unduly  excited  when  Gladstone  announced  that  five 
years*  study  had  brought  him  to  look  with  favor  upon  the  project  of 
Home  Rule  in  Ireland,  and  that  he  believed  the  topic  had  at  last  come 
into  the  realm  of  political  discussion,  if  not  of  political  action. 


328  GLADSTONE:    A  BIOGRAPHICAL  STUDY. 

We  have  tried  in  this  biography  to  sketch  the  causes  which  operated 
upon  this  receptive  and  excursive  intellect  to  produce  this  conviction. 
He  and  his  idea  were  not  even  yet  out  of  the  woods,  as  we  say.  Glad- 
stone was  not  now  able  to  see  quite  clearly  how  the  Imperial  Parliament 
and  its  ultimate  control  of  questions  could  be  maintained  while  Ireland 
conducted  her  own  business.  He  was  not  even  sure  that  Ireland  de- 
manded Home  Rule,  and  especially  he  doubted  that  the  noisiest  of  her 
citizens  represented  the  great  majority  of  her  people.  Certainly  the 
new  popular  suffrage  which  had  been  active  since  the  Reform  Bill  oi 
1884  had  broadened  the  sense  of  responsibility  among  Irishmen,  and 
it  had  not  indicated,  as  yet,  that  Home  Rule  was  the  thing  that  the 
majority  of  the  intelligent  and  self  respectful  Irish  people  wanted.  Now, 
however,  things  took  a  turn,  and  Ireland  had  declared  unequivocally. 
It  is  impossible  for  us  to  share  in  any  other  feeling  than  that  of  admira- 
tion for  an  English  statesman  who  so  carefully  and  patiently  as  Glad- 
stone had  walked  with  the  people,  and  set  popular  government  so  se- 
curely upon  its  broad  base  as  to  make  it  the  utterance  and  embodiment 
of  popular  demands.  Gladstone's  ideas  of  the  necessity  for  generous 
education  of  the  people  made  it  incumbent  upon  him  to  make  them  in- 
telligent, especially  on  such  an  important  matter  as  this,  and  surely, 
from  time  to  time,  in  his  treatment  of  Ireland,  he  had  inspired  and 
guided  the  English  conscience  and  brain  to  deal  justly  with  this  subject. 
Perhaps  it  was  true  that  his  own  eager  and  deeply  moved  intelligence 
and  moral  sense  had  outrun  those  of  the  public.  Never  until  this  mo- 
ment did  his  prophetic  vision  deem  it  possible  for  Home  Rule  to  be 
anything  but  a  failure  in  Ireland;  now  he  thought  England  and  Ireland 
capable  of  making  such  a  project  valuable  and  victorious.  It  was  the 
highest  act  of  statesmanship,  which  is  faith. 

In  the  year  1886  the  British  public  was  offered  the  pamphlet  of 
Mr.  Gladstone  called  "The  History  of  an  Idea."  It  was  very  like  the 
address  which  he  issued  in  the  course  of  his  labors  for  the  disestablish- 
ment of  the  Irish  Church,  and  it  gives  testimony  to  what  we  have  been 
trying  to  indicate  all  along — the  fact  that  in  dealing  with  Mr.  Gladstone, 
one  is  having  to  do  with  an  almost  unmatched  congeries  of  vital  pro- 
cesses,— a  restless,  plastic  mind,  never  regarding  any  avenue  of  thought, 


CALLED    AGAIN    TO    POWER.  329 

except  perhaps  the  one  that  led  and  yet  leads  churchwards,  as  perma- 
nently closed  to  human  entrance,  never  believing  that  the  last  word  has 
been  spoken  upon  any  great  question,  never  failing  in  hope  for  the 
federation  and  complete  sovereignty  of  all  just  and  comprehensive  ideas. 
Less  daring  intelligences,  and  consciences  less  vitality  related  to  his 
abundant  faith  in  man  might  well  fail. 

Here  Gladstone  lost  from  his  side  two  able  men.  The  one  was  Mr. 
Joseph  Chamberlain,  and  the  other,  Mr.  John  Bright.  Perhaps  he 
cared  less  for  the  fact  that  he  was  forsaken  in  this  moment  by  Lord 
Northbfooke,  Lord  Carlingford,  and  Sir  George  Trevelyan. 

It  was  a  great  moment  in  the  history  of  one  powerful  man's  faith  in 
the  ability  of  weaker  men  to  enter  into  the  processes  and  triumph  of 
civilization  by  way  of  self-government,  when  this  once  haughty  Tory 
rose,  and  breathless  interest  centered  on  an  old  man  radiant  with  the 
fadeless  youth  of  his  principles,  and  Mr.  Gladstone  had  offered  his  Bill 
for  the  Government  of  Ireland,  and  the  Bill  for  making  purchase  of  the 
lands  and  improvements  from  the  Irish  landlords.  It  was  the  signal  for 
a  declaration  of  hostilities  against  him  and  his  policy  by  thousands  of 
Liberals  of  every  degree  of  talent  and  influence.  Away  went  a  large 
Liberal  vote,  and  there  came  to  him  what  he  was  never  quite  able  to 
control — the  Irish  vote.  One  hundred  years  before,  on  another  April 
day,  in  America,  men  "fired  the  shot  heard  round  the  world,"  attesting 
the  fact  that  a  revolution  against  the  idea  of  taxation  without  repre- 
sentation had  been  inaugurated.  Here  was  no  revolutionist,  but  an 
evolutionist  as  practical  as  Darwin  was  philosophical,  uttering  calmly 
a  word  heard  also  round  the  world,  and,  swordless  but  firm,  Glad- 
stone stood  fast  by  the  same  principle  which  had  guarded  our  fore- 
fathers. 

It  was  impossible  for  Gladstone  to  deal  with  any  topic  without  pas- 
sionateness  of  devotion  and  the  completest  manifestation  of  inner  loyalty 
to  its  aims  manifesting  itself  in  every  act,  especially  in  his  industry  and 
eloquence.  This  intensity  can  never  be  understood  by  people  who  have 
no  intensity. 

Every  element  of  his  nature  which  had  received  the  precious  pre- 
cipitate of  experience  from  Jong  years  of  debate,  every  sensibility  of 


330  GLADSTONE:    A  BIOGRAPHICAL  STUDY. 

spirit  which  had  been  played  upon  and  made  vibrant  by  a  thousand 
winds  from  the  decades  of  controversy,  every  reach  of  imagination 
which  had  been  enlarged  by  the  fact  that  he  had  witnessed  the  dawn 
of  an  ever-increasing  day  for  the  people,  every  force  of  his  genius  which 
had  been  trained  to  suppleness  and  potency  in  serving  causes  which  had 
first  come  to  him  begging  upon  their  knees  and  left  him  crowned  with 
sovereign  triumph,  seemed  now  to  rise  refreshed  from  long  dwelling 
in  his  soul  and  to  engage  again  with  a  domination  almost  superhuman, 
as  he  laid  upon  the  altar  of  constitutional  government  and  freedom  the 
remaining  years  of  his  illustrious  career. 

He  had  fought  in  every  part  of  the  field.  At  the  beginning  of  1886 
Mr.  Gladstone  again  gave  his  mind  a  holiday,  by  entering  into  a  long 
controversy  involving  enormous  learning  and  great  dialectical  skill, 
as  well  as  those  resources  of  debate  of  which  he  was  the  easy  master, 
meeting  such  antagonists  as  Professor  Max  Miiller,  Mr.  Huxley  and 
Dr.  Albert  Reville.  Each  of  these  men  wrote  from  his  quiet  study;  and 
he  had  no  Irish  question  or  any  of  the  other  half-dozen  great  questions 
which  beset  Mr.  Gladstone,  to  deal  with.  His  versatility  of  mind  is 
illustrated  in  the  fact  that  on  the  very  day  upon  which  he  received  the 
"Nineteenth  Century"  containing  his  article  entitled  "Proem  to  Gen- 
esis; a  Plea  for  a  Fair  Trial,"  he  began  to  write  upon,  as  the  only  man 
in  England  who  could  adequately  discuss  Sir  Henry  Thring's 
"Thoughts  of  Imperial  Federation,"  and  Barry  O'Brien's  "Federal 
Union  with  Ireland."  Mr.  Gladstone  had  kept  his  craft  alive  where 
many  seas  have  met. 

Serious  opposition  was  organizing  itself  against  Home  Rule.  Mr. 
Gladstone  was  being  quoted  as  a  false  man.  His  old  phrases  were  con- 
jured up  and  he  had  to  again  explain  the  fragment  of  an  old  speech — 
"so  that  with  fatal  precision  the  steps  of  crime  dogged  the  footsteps  of 
the  Land  League."  Gladstone  was  accused  of  a  desire  to  create  the 
Irish  Parliament,  because  he  had  found  out  that  England  regarded  Irish 
members  in  the  House  of  Commons  as  a  nuisance  and  that  therefore 
relief  ought  to  be  afforded,  even  if  a  grave  danger  were  encountered. 
Even  those  who  agreed  so  far  with  Gladstone  as  to  admit  that  some 
kind  of  Home  Rule  would  be  the  best  thing  for  Ireland,  now  animad- 


CALLED    AGAIN    TO    POWER. 


331 


verted  upon  Gladstone's  ability  or  willingness  to  fulfill  Liberal  princi- 
ples, "and  to  permit  the  majority  of  the  Nobodies  of  Ireland  to  govern 
themselves."  No  doubt  there  was  an  honest  fear  that,  if  Home  Rule 
were  granted,  loyal  men  in  Ireland  would  be  exposed  to  the  Irish  wrath 
which  had  been  bottled  up  for  centuries,  and  outrages  and  murder 
would  be  rampant  on  every  hand.  Wise  friends  of  Mr.  Gladstone  fell 
from  his  side,  because  they  held  it  was  impossible  for  him  to  say  that 
absolute  protection  for  the  loyalists  would  be  made  a  condition  pre- 
cedent to  Home  Rule.  England  feared  the  use  of  cruelty — the  very 
weapon  which  England  had  so  long  used  against  Ireland.  Thoughtful 
men  knew  that  no  single  act  of  Parliament  could  abolish  the  memory 
of  ages  of  misgovernment  in  that  Island,  even  if  these  thoughtful  men 
did  not  sympathize  with  Mr.  Shaw-Lefevre  when  he  called  the  Parnell 
movement  "a  shameful,  audacious  and  gigantic  act  of  robbery."  No 
doubt  Gladstone  was  confronted  with  the  misgivings  of  men  he  re- 
spected deeply.  He  knew  justice  must  be  done  to  Ireland,  yet  he  knew, 
and  he  was  to  know  still  more  certainly,  in  the  future,  that  a  nation  once 
so  long  under  the  heel  of  wrong  as  Ireland  had  been  could  hardly  avoid 
an  outburst  of  plundering,  cruelty  and  revenge.  The  last  five  years 
had  taught  him  as  much.  What  guarantees  could  he  give?  Here  were 
a  lot  of  Irishmen  who  had  done  faithful  service  in  enforcing  the  laws  of 
the  Realm — they  were  laws  of  the  Realm  even  if  they  had  been  bad 
laws — and  now  they  saw  themselves  about  to  be  handed  over  to  the 
ruffians  they  had  controlled — to  men  against  whom  England  could  not 
protect  them.  Large  investments  had  been  made  by  Englishmen  in 
Ireland,  and  if  these  men  were  turned  out  or  persecuted,  they  would 
have  the  right  to  have  pecuniary  relief.  The  awful  lesson  of  the  Phoenix 
Park  murders  had  compelled  Parliament  to  pass  the  Crimes  Act,  but 
the  crime  had  gone  before,  and  the  victims  could  not  be  reached.  The 
Land  League  always  had  the  appearance  of  a  base  conspiracy  to  a  large 
section  of  English  people.  Terrorism  in  Ireland  had  been  too  closely 
associated  with  some  of  the  men  most  anxious  for  Home  Rule,  for 
many  voters  to  forget  that  with  an  Irish  Parliament  criminals  might  be 
holding  the  lives  and  property  of  loyalists  in  hands  bloody  already. 
'Tor  five  years,"  said  Arnold-Forster,  "Gladstone  held  Parliament  in 


332  GLADSTONE:    A  BIOGRAPHICAL  STUDY. 

.  the  hollow  of  his  hand  and  he  gave  no  single  word  of  encouragement 
or  hope  to  the  sorely  tried  loyalists  of  Ireland."  Of  course  this  was  not 
true,  but  many  a  man  believed  it. 

The  Irish  of  the  Molly  Maguire  and  Tammany  Hall  were  offered  as 
evidence  that  no  good  could  come  out  of  Ireland.  Such  men  as  James 
Bryce,  while  sharing  none  of  these  opinions,  looked  upon  the  situation 
more  calmly. 

Yet  Bryce  insisted  that  "no  scheme  of  Home  Rule  or  local  self-gov- 
ernment is  admissible  which  would  leave  the  landowners  at  the  mercy 
of  Irish  elective  bodies,  and  that  no  such  scheme  as  aforesaid  is  ad- 
missible which  does  not  recognize  and  provide  for  the  case  of  the 
Ulster  Protestants."  Although  he  admitted  the  fact  that  these  proposi- 
tions might  suggest  more  difficulties  than  they  saw,  he  would  not 
despond,  least  of  all  would  he  believe  that  democracy  "at  which  it  is 
now  fashionable  to  rail,  is  the  cause  of  present  perplexities,  for,"  he 
added,  "these  were  as  great  under  the  oligarchy  before  1832,  and  during 
the  period  of  middle  class  rule  that  followed." 

He  had  a  word  to  say,  however,  to  the  Nationalists,  and  it  was  this: 

"It  is  to  be  hoped  that  the  Nationalists  in  Ireland  and  America  will 
not  mistake  this  spirit,  which  has  borne  many  provocations  quietly,  for 
a  want  of  firmness  or  of  courage.  If  they  do,  they  will  be  fatally  mis- 
taken. England  will  yield  nothing  to  menace;  but  she  is  strong  enough 
to  be  magnanimous.  Recognizing  the  novelty  of  the  present  situation, 
recollecting  the  lamentable  errors  of  the  past,  contrasting  her  own  peace 
and  prosperity  with  the  miseries  of  distracted  Ireland,  she  is  prepared  to 
give  a  calm  and  patient  consideration  to  any  and  every  scheme  which 
offers  a  prospect  of  alleviating  those  miseries  and  of  creating  a  better 
feeling  between  peoples  whom  nature  meant  to  be  friends,  and  whose 
friendship  is  essential  to  the  welfare  and  the  greatness  of  her  empire." 

William  Ewart  Gladstone  had  brought  men  of  this  quality,  at  least, 
to  speak  calmly,  and  honestly  consider  his  plans  for  Ireland. 


CHAPTER  XXXIX. 
TRIED   AND   FAITHFUL. 

It  was  sufficient  to  discourage  confidence  in  popular  government 
through  representation  to  behold  the  violence  with  which  Gladstone's 
foes  treated  his  presence  and  conduct  in  the  House  of  Commons  at  this 
time.  Perhaps  Mr.  Gladstone  never  met  so  angry  and  vociferant  an 
opposition  as  he  met  in  the  new  Parliament  of  1874  on  the  i8th  of  May. 
The  Conservative  party  seemed  to  remember  the  former  glory  and  the 
height  of  popularity  from  which  this  Lucifer  had  fallen,  and  now  they 
were  having  their  jubilee.  Disraeli  then  looked  upon  the  noisy  and 
excited  mob  as  if  felicitating  himself  upon  the  fact  that  it  was  the  hour 
of  his  triumph  and  that  of  his  rival's  humiliation.  This  was  the  time 
when  Gladstone  received  nothing  else  than  discourtesy  and  even  malig- 
nant treatment  whenever  he  arose  to  speak.  The  habit  of  his  enemies 
grew  more  fierce  as  the  years  went  on  from  1874  to  1880.  The  Conserva- 
tives kept  reminding  him  that  he  was  not  only  out  of  office,  but  he  was 
not  even  the  leader  of  the  Liberals  whom  they  affected  to  despise.  Fur- 
ther, they  insisted,  he  continually  kept  coming  and  going  like  a  jack  in 
a  box,  at  one  time  retiring  entirely  out  of  sight  and  leaving  notice  that 
he  was  not  at  all  responsible  for  Liberal  leadership,  then  popping  up 
and  intimating  by  some  flash  of  genius  that  nobody  else  could  lead 
the  Liberal  party.  He  was  attacked  by  one  member  of  Parliament  as  a 
man  who  was  guilty  of  almost  every  improper  and  unworthy  method 
of  gaining  power,  and,  at  this,  the  Conservatives  went  wild  with  rejoic- 
ing. No  wonder  that  Gladstone  in  1882  had  done  all  he  could  to  make 
this  disorder  impossible  of  repetition.  He  said  himself  that  they  had 
come  upon  a  condition  of  affairs  which  "struck  a  fatal  blow  at  the  lib- 
erties of  debate  and  the  dignity  of  Parliament."  Certain  it  is  that  at 
the  time  we  are  now  considering,  May,  1885,  it  was  almost  impossible 
for  Gladstone  to  rise  in  his  place  and  to  begin  to  speak  without  being 

333 


334  GLADSTONE:    A  BIOGRAPHICAL  STUDY. 

met  by  noises  of  every  sort  and  especially  by  groans.  Perhaps  it  is 
true  that  Mr.  Gladstone  himself  had  met  more  serious  opposition 
amounting  to  personal  antagonism  when  on  the  7th  of  May,  1877,  ne 
proposed  to  offer  his  resolutions  on  the  Eastern  Question.  For  more 
than  one  and  one-half  hours  he  stood,  as  Beecher  had  stood  at  Liver- 
pool in  the  course  of  our  civil  war,  before  a  mob  of  English  Conserva- 
tive Members  of  the  House  of  Commons,  but  he  conquered  them. 

While  Gladstone  was  waiting  for  England  to  make  up  her  mind 
what  she  would  have  him  do,  he  published  alongside  with  these  articles 
and  others  which  had  to  do  with  Welsh  Disestablishment,  Radicalism 
and  Socialism,  Moderate  Liberalism  and  immoderate  Liberalism,  Turk- 
ish and  Land  questions,  an  essay  on  "Dawn  of  Creation  and  of  Wor- 
ship," which  was  written  as  though  there  could  be  no  tumult  in  earth 
or  heaven,  and  he  fought  out  his  controversy  as  though  the  only  serious 
question  on  a  planet  like  this  was  the  origin  of  religious  activity  in  the 
form  of  worship  on  the  part  of  man.  The  mobility  and  largeness  of  Mr. 
Gladstone's  mind,  its  passion  for  utterance,  and  its  love  of  disputation 
are  nowhere  more  remarkably  exhibited  than  in  an  article  such  as  this. 
Without  doubt,  the  advice  of  Lyman  Beecher  to  a  young  man  who 
had  been  told  not  to  put  too  many  irons  in  the  fire,  in  which  the  excel- 
lent minister  said  to  him,  "put  all  your  irons  in,  tongs,  shovel  and 
everything  else,"  had  in  some  form  come  to  Mr.  Gladstone  and  had 
been  adopted  in  early  life;  and  the  result  was  that  he  always  had  a  hot 
iron  on  hand  and  did  not  get  weary,  as  many  do,  of  having  to  use  one 
burning  instrument.  Here  is  the  same  wealth  of  information  and  full- 
ness of  statement  associated  with  the  same  tendency  to  verbose  state- 
ment and  reiteration  of  ideas  which  was  characteristic  of  nearly  every- 
thing he  did,  either  in  oratory  or  in  letters,  when  his  mind  was  not 
poised  with  the  thought  of  his  guardianship  and  championship  of  con- 
victions important  for  the  immediate  destiny  of  nations  and  men.  He 
thus  refreshed  himself  and  then  re-entered  the  debate  to  prove  the 
untruth,  at  least  in  one  instance,  of  Pulteney's  remark  to  Walpole: 
"Political  parties  are  like  snakes,  which  are  not  moved  by  their  heads, 
but  by  their  tails."  Here  truly  the  head  was  leading. 


CHAPTER  XL. 
THE  AGED  WARRIOR. 

Gladstone  was  now  an  old  man,  and  yet  one  of  the  youngest  old 
men  the  world  has  ever  seen.  The  courage  which  in  earlier  years  had 
never  forsaken  him  was  now  alert  and  open-eyed  and  true.  The  amaz- 
ing information  which  three-quarters  of  a  century  had  brought  to  him 
appeared  to  be  arranged  for  this  special  conflict.  The  quick  eyes  which 
had  not  then  begun  to  lose  their  pristine  brilliancy, — if  indeed,  like  the 
sightless  eyes  of  Milton,  Gladstone's  fading  eyes  did  not  to  the  last 
seem  to  be  radiant  and  penetrating, — flashed  their  morning-tide  upon 
the  dark  phases  of  this  angry  subject.  The  conviction  of  the  righteous- 
ness of  his  matured  plan,  which  had  at  least  none  of  the  acidity  of  un- 
ripeness in  it,  but  had  rather  grown  mellow  and  rich  as  he  had  consid- 
ered and  developed  it,  now  satisfied  the  hunger  of  his  moral  nature. 
He  believed  in  it  at  the  center  of  his  being,  and  in  the  full  possession 
of  his  superb  energies  of  mind  and  spirit,  he  threw  aside  all  "judicious 
mixtures,"  all  thoughts  that  intimidation  could  be  a  just  or  wise  method 
of  civilizing  human  beings,  and  entered  his  consummating  work  with 
a  fresh  and  buoyant  hope.  The  Tory  Government  had  gone  out.  He 
did  not  want  anybody  to  come  over  to  his  side  with  such  rapidity  as 
would  prevent  his  bringing  his  intellect  and  conscience  along  with  him. 
He  had  long  ago  said  to  those  who  were  likely  to  be  rash:  "I  would  tell 
them  of  my  own  intention  to  keep  my  own  counsel,  and  reserve  my  own 
freedom,  until  I  see  an  occasion  when  there  may  be  a  prospect  of  public 
benefit  in  endeavoring  to  make  a  movement  forward;  and  I  will  ven- 
ture to  recommend  them,  as  an  old  Parliamentary  hand,  to  do  the 
same."  This  slow  and  steady  pace  he  never  forsook,  until  he  was 
compelled  to  march  with  the  speed  of  his  ideas  rushing  to  their  accom- 
plishment. 

A  new  party  came  under  the  leadership  of  Lord  Hartington  and 

335 


336  GLADSTONE:    A  BIOGRAPHICAL  STUDY. 

Mr.  Chamberlain.  This  party  was  composed  of  the  Whigs  and  Radicals 
who  went  in  with  the  Tories.  Gigantic  was  the  opposition.  All  Eng- 
land was  astir,  and  London  had  only  a  single  voice  in  the  morning  and 
a  single  voice  in  the  evening  which  did  not  join  in  the  chorus  of  the 
newspapers  against  Gladstone.  He  could  still  grow;  his  power  to  rea- 
son even  with  an  antagonist  never  vanished.  No  doubt  Gladstone  was 
badly  advised  with  regard  to  his  hope  that  the  Home  Rule  bill  would 
pass  at  its  second  reading  in  the  House  of  Commons.  No  doubt  he 
was  misled  with  reference  to  the  amount  of  horror  England  conceived 
at  the  idea  that  cut-throats  and  knaves  would  hold  office  in  Ireland  if  the 
Home  Rule  bill  prevailed.  No  doubt  he  overestimated  the  Irishman's 
willingness  to  be  orderly,  even  under  the  best  auspices.  It  is  question- 
able if  the  intense  and  progressive  spirit  of  Gladstone  seriously  missed 
the  slow-going  and  lethargic  Lord  Hartington,  but  it  was  impossible  for 
Gladstone  not  to  feel  keenly  the  secession  of  Joseph  Chamberlain.  The 
latter  had  come  into  the  Government  as  the  President  of  the  Board  of 
Trade.  He  certainly  had  read  Mr.  Gladstone's  address  to  the  Electors 
of  Midlothian  in  which  he  said:  "The  hope  and  purpose  of  the  new 
Government  in  taking  office  was  to  examine  carefully  whether  it  is 
not  practicable  to  try  some  method  of  meeting  the  present  case  of 
Ireland,  and  ministering  to  its  wants,  more  safe  and  more  effectual, 
going  nearer  to  the  source  and  seat  of  the  mischief,  and  offering  more 
promise  of  stability,  than  the  method  of  separate  and  restrictive  crim- 
inal legislation."  One  man  was  sure  to  be  missed, — for  William  Edward 
Forster  had  recently  died.  Gladstone  could  not  be  indifferent  to  the 
lessons  to  be  learned  from  the  life  of  Forster  and  his  effort  at  adminis- 
tration in  Ireland. 

Gladstone  was  not  a  man  who  could  have  been  bewildered  into  a 
false  conception  as  to  the  strength  of  his  position  with  the  English 
people,  by  the  fact  that  he  had  been  so  warmly  received  when  he  in- 
troduced the  Bill.  Before  this  he  had  heard  cheers  for  him  which  shook 
the  House  of  Commons,  but  he  had  never  had  such  an  enthusiastic 
greeting  from  the  tumultuous  crowd  who  followed  Mr.  Parnell  and  the 
somewhat  miscellaneous  company  of  Radicals  from  whom  the  man  from 
Oxford  had  rarely  received  anything  but  admiration  for  his  talents  and 


GLADSTONE  AND  HIS  GRANDCHILD 


PRINCE  OF  WALES'  VISIT 


THE  AGED  WARRIOR.  337 

sneers  for  his  earlier  political  respectability.  For  three  hours  and  a  half 
in  the  course  of  a  speech  in  which  every  element  of  his  nature  con- 
tributed its  special  strength  and  glory  to  his  eloquence,  he  had  had 
the  chance  of  feeling  and  studying  England's  mind  and  heart  in  the 
House  of  Commons.  It  was  a  speech  containing  less  of  that  meta- 
physical quality  which  often  had  wearied  his  friends  by  adding  dis- 
tinction to  distinction  and  laying  him  open  to  the  charge  of  disin- 
genuousness,  than  any  other  speech  he  had  made  on  any  other  equally 
important  subject.  It  was  not  unusually  oratorical,  for  this  master  of 
the  art — indeed,  here  he  mastered  it — and  it  was  not  all  rhetorical, 
which  has  been  said  to  be  the  defect  in  Mr.  Gladstone's  manner  and 
method  as  a  public  speaker.  There  was  nothing  of  the  Oxford  schol- 
asticism in  the  way  in  which  he  spoke  to  the  House  of  Commons  on 
that  occasion,  while  yet  his  frame  trembled  with  the  excitement  which 
he  had  caught  from  the  vast  and  tumultuous  crowds  in  the  street.  Surely 
no  expressed  admiration — and  nobody  in  the  House  failed  to  pay 
him  the  highest  tribute  when  he  concluded  his  speech — no  congratula- 
tions even  from  his  opponents  had  won  him  away  from  that  clear- 
sightedness which  gave  him  to  understand  that  a  long  and  terrible  con- 
flict lay  before  him  and  the  ideas  he  had  uttered.  But  it  is  true  that 
so  certain  were  some  of  his  closest  friends  of  defeat,  on  the  day  of  di- 
vision, that  they  began  to  console  him  soon  with  the  hope  that  they 
could  at  least  appeal  again  to  the  country.  Mr.  Russell  tells  us  that 
some  devotee  went  so  far  as  to  agree  to  move  the  vote  of  confidence 
on  general  grounds,  with  the  idea  that  "this  would  be  supported  by 
many  who  could  not  vote  for  the  Home  Rule  bill."  It  was  true,  the 
defeat  was  imminent.  All  this  eloquence  and  wisdom,  statesmanship 
and  humanity,  hopes  and  fears  commingled,  went  down  before  the 
vote,  when,  on  June  8th,  a  majority  of  thirty  rejected  the  bill.  Mr. 
Gladstone  had  not  educated  his  public,  and  the  public  was  not  ready  for 
so  complex  a  measure.  In  love  of  humanity,  he  had  outrun  Peter  to  the 
sepulchre.  His  ideal  was  not  dead.  Abroad  in  the  world,  it  would  some 
day  be  recognized.  He  could  wait.  The  Irish  Nationalists  alone  were 
fairly  pleased  with  the  scheme,  because  it  was  a  scheme  in  their  general 

direction.    Mr.  Parnell  from  the  first  did  not  like  the  idea  that  Ireland 
22 


338  GLADSTONE:    A  BIOGRAPHICAL  STUDY. 

would  not  be  represented  at  Westminster,  and  England  did  not  like 
the  idea  that  Ireland  would  have  a  Parliament  of  her  own. 

Long  ago  Mr.  Gladstone's  plan  of  Home  Rule  has  become  so 
familiar  to  American  readers  that  it  is  only  necessary  here  to  say  that 
the  measure  for  the  buying-out  of  the  Irish  landlords,  which  came  along 
with  the  Home  Rule  bill,  offended  those  who  wanted  not  to  sell  and 
those  who  wanted  not  to  buy;  and  England,  Scotland  and  Wales,  with 
their  large  Irish  populations,  joined  with  the  Roman  Catholics  in  the 
demand  that  some  Irishmen  should  represent  them  in  the  Imperial 
Parliament  at  London. 

Mr.  Chamberlain^s  opposition  was  directed  against  Gladstone,  be- 
cause of  the  land  scheme.  Perhaps  it  will  always  be  thought  that 
Mr.  Chamberlain  would  have  felt  better  about  things  if  his  own  scheme 
of  Home  Rule  had  been  adopted.  Certain  it  is  that  he  has  been  a 
severe  critic  and  a  powerful  antagonist  to  a  man  who  put  into  his 
scheme  what  Chamberlain's  scheme  did  not  possess, — recognition  of 
Ireland's  nationality.  Gladstone's  poetic  mind  had  clearly  appreciated 
the  genius  of  the  Irish  people. 

Lowell,  however,  wrote  to  his  friend  Norton  (See  Letters  of  James 
Russell  Lowell,  Copyright,  by  Harper's,  from  which  this  extract  is  taken 
by  permission:) 

"The  political  situation  continues  to  be  interesting,  and  opinion  about 
the  fate  of  Mr.  Gladstone's  bill  varies  from  hour  to  hour.  I  for  a  good 
while  thought  the  second  reading  would  be  carried  by  a  small  majority, 
but  believe  now  that  it  will  be  defeated.  I  hear  that  Mr.  Gladstone  said  to 
the  Duke  of  Argyll:  'I  hoped  in  my  old  age  to  save  my  country,  but  this  is 
a  bitter,  humiliating  disappointment.'  The  fate  of  second  reading  de- 
pends somewhat  upon  the  fear  of  a  dissolution  of  Parliament,  but  the 
general  opinion  now  is  that  the  Government,  if  defeated,  will  dissolve.  I 
asked  Mr.  Chamberlain  day  before  yesterday  if  he  thought  the  G.  O.  M. 
was  angry  enough  to  dissolve,  and  he  said  yes.  I  met  Mr.  Gladstone 
a  few  days  ago,  and  he  looked  as  gay  as  a  boy  on  his  way  home  from 
school.  From  what  I  hear,  I  am  inclined  to  think  that  what  is  called  Irish 
public  opinion  in  favor  of  Home  Rule  is  nearly  as  factitious  as  that  of 
our  American  meetings  and  resolutions." 


THE  AGED  WARRIOR. 
And  he  wrote  again: 

"From  Osterley  I  went  to  Holmbury  (Leveson  Gower's),  where  I 
spent  a  couple  of  days  very  pleasantly  with  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Gladstone  and 
other  guests.  Mr.  Gladstone  was  in  boyish  spirits.  He  told  me,  among 
other  things,  that  'in  the  whole  course  of  his  political  experience  he  had 
never  seen  anything  like  the  general  enthusiasm  of  the  country  for  Home 
Rule  in  Ireland.'  I  asked  slyly  'if  it  was  not  possible  that  a  part  at  least, 
of  this  enthusiasm  might  be  for  the  Prime  Minister?'  'Oh,  no,  no,  not  a  bit 
of  it!'  he  answered  with  eager  emphasis.  And  I  am  inclined  to  think 
he  persuaded  himself  for  the  moment.  This  is  one  secret  of  his  power 
as  a  speaker,  that  he  is  capable  of  improvising  convictions.  He  left  us 
to  go  down  to  Scotland,  and  I  couldn't  help  remembering  that  I  first 
met  him  at  a  dinner  at  Lord  Ripon's,  in  March,  '80,  when  he  was  on  the 
eve  of  starting  for  Midlothian  on  his  first  Scottish  campaign.  He  was 
very  confident,  and  the  result  justified  him.  Perhaps  it  will  again,  though 
the  general  opinion  (as  one  hears  it)  is  the  other  way.  But  I  still  think 
the  people  strongly  with  him." 

Later  Lowell,  who  had  perhaps  lost  some  of  his  vision  in  later 
years,  wrote: 

"It  amuses  me  to  see  the  Grand  Old  Man  using  the  same  arguments 
against  this  bill  that  I  vainly  urged  against  'his'  bill  five  years  ago. 
You  know  that  I  am  'principled  agin'  indulging  in  prophecy,  but  I 
made  one  at  that  time  which  has  been  curiously  verified.  I  used  to  ask, 
'Suppose  the  Irish  nation  should  strike,  what  are  you  going  to  do  about 
it?'  They  have  struck,  and  I  am  still  at  a  loss.  I  am  glad  to  see  that 
their  tone  over  here  is  much  more  moderate  than  it  was.  'Studiously 
moderate,'  you  will  say.  But  I  think  they  begin  to  see  the  difficulties 
more  clearly  than  they  did.  Meanwhile,  the  coercion  policy  is  crowding 
the  immigrant  ships  to  this  country,  and  we  have  already  as  many  as  we 
can  digest  at  present.  We  are  really  interested  in  your  Irish  question  in 
more  ways  than  one.  It  is  really  we  who  have  been  paying  the  rents 
over  there,  for  we  have  to  pay  higher  wages  for  domestic  service  to  meet 
the  drain." 

John  Bright's  opposition  had  been  the  most  serious  met  in  the 
progress  of  the  debate.  Lords  and  dukes  had  no  hearing  with  the  peo- 
ple of  England,  for  it  was  suspected  that  they  were  not  particularly 
anxious  for  reforms  which  broadened  the  base  of  the  pyramid  of  gov- 


340  GLADSTONE:    A  BIOGRAPHICAL  STUDY. 

ernment.  But  John  Bright  had  a  hearing  with  that  strong  middle 
class  who  rule  the  realm.  Besides,  he  was  well  known  as  a  friend  of 
Ireland.  In  season  and  out  of  season,  he  had  labored  for  her  honor 
and  her  well-being.  The  intemperate  and  often  outrageous  action  on 
the  part  of  the  Irish  leaders  and  misleaders  had  given  him  grave  doubts 
as  to  the  ability  of  the  Irish  people  to  use  Home  Rule  save  as  a  curse 
to  England  and  to  themselves,  and  no  persuasions  of  his  old  friend, 
Gladstone,  could  lead  him  to  revise  the  opinion  that  the  Irish  he  cared 
for  did  not  really  want  Home  Rule.  The  Bill,  as  we  have  said,  was 
defeated,  and  yet  in  the  defeat  it  was  evident  that  an  ultimate  triumph 
was  sure  to  come.  The  Queen  labored  in  vain  to  get  Mr.  Gladstone 
to  remain  in  power,  and  on  June  26th,  Parliament  was  dissolved.  An 
appeal  was  made  to  the  country,  and  the  Conservatives  triumphed;  but 
it  was  a  kind  of  triumph  in  which  Gladstone  saw  hope  for  the  principle 
he  had  espoused.  Things  were  in  a  hurly-burly,  so  far  as  parties  and 
leaders  and  constituencies  were  concerned.  Even  the  classes  appeared 
seriously  separated  one  from  another.  Drawing-rooms  began  to  close 
their  doors  to  Mr.  Gladstone.  Fierceness  of  controversy  never  went 
further  in  the  history  of  British  politics.  Hate  and  rage  strove  with 
ignorance  and  passion  to  pour  out  vials  of  vituperation  upon  Mr.  Glad- 
stone. He  had  hitherto  born  with  equanimity  and  beheld  with 
a  smile  the  political  cartoons  which  had  represented  him  in  the  form  of 
a  bird,  beast  or  denizen  of  the  sea;  he  was  now  to  be  advertised  from  one 
end  of  the  country  to  the  other  as  an  inhabitant  of  hell,  and  no  abuse 
was  too  foul  or  insult  too  stinging  for  the  Grand  Old  Man.  Art — if  the 
coarsest  sort  of  malignant  opposition  may  be  said  to  produce  anything 
like  art — exhausted  its  resources  in  describing  him  as  a  being  unfit  for 
earth  and  hopeless  of  even  the  mercy  of  the  God  whom  British  aristo- 
crats talked  of  glibly  as  they  turned  the  friends  of  Gladstone  from  their 
mansions.  May  3d  Lowell  wrote  home  to  America  to  this  effect: 

"The  editor  of  the  'Contemporary  Review'  has  just  gone  out,  having 
vainly  endeavored  (at  the  instigation  of  John  Morley)  to  persuade  me  that 
I  should  be  doing  a  public  service  by  giving  my  views  on  Mr.  Gladstone's 
Home  Rule  project  in  that  periodical.  But  I  prefer  to  keep  clear  of  hot 
potatoes — and  Irish  ones  are  apt  to  be  particularly  hot.  Prettly  nearly  Every- 
body who  is  Anybody  here  is  furious — there  is  no  word  for  it — and  de- 


THE  AGED   WARRIOR.  341 

nounces  the  G.  O.  M.  as  a  kind  of  baser  Judas  Iscariot,  all  the  more  con- 
temptible because  he  will  be  cheated  of  his  thirty  pieces.  The  Irish  them- 
selves are  beginning  to  feel  the  responsibility  of  governing  Ireland,  and  Mr. 

•  has  said  that  they  should  'want  an  alien  act  to  enable  them  to  deal 

with  those Irish-American  scoundrels.'    (This  is  confidential.)    The 

'situation'  is  a  very  grave  one,  and  everybody  who  isn't  excited  is  de- 
pressed."* 

Through  the  whole  of  this  fearful  ordeal  Mr.  Gladstone  walked 
erect,  serious-minded,  unmoved  by  the  rancor  of  enemies  or  the  adula- 
tion of  his  associates,  sure-footed  and  certain  that  he  was  engaged  in 
bringing  without  doubt  a  result  worthy  of  the  loftiest  mind. 

Of  course  his  enemies  rejoiced  to  see  the  men  of  the  Liberal  party 
quarreling  among  themselves  as  to  the  bill,  though  Gladstone  believed 
they  differed  only  on  details  and  not  on  the  great  principle  involved. 
As  he  saw  the  spirit  of  intolerance  directed  against  himself,  he  appreci- 
ated more  strongly  than  ever  what  Ireland  had  suffered  in  the  cen- 
turies of  her  humiliation.  He  saw  how  far  injustice  and  unreason  could 
go  in  a  refusal  to  remedy  the  terror  of  suffering  borne  in  the  past,  and 
to  continue  the  course  of  conduct  in  England  which  simply  solidi- 
fied the  ignorance  of  England  with  respect  to  the  whole  Irish  question 
and  made  it  a  weapon  enforcing  coercive  measures  which  could  never 
remedy  Irish  evils.  No  doubt  the  upper  classes,  so  called,  really  believed 
that  Gladstone  was  ready  to  destroy  England's  greatness,  for  the  upper 
classes  of  England  are  notoriously  ignorant.  No  doubt  respectable 
bishops  and  well-fed  ecclesiastics  thought  that  this  illustrious  Protestant 
wished  to  uproot  Protestantism  in  the  British  Isles,  for  churchmanship 
in  England  is  not  necessarily  intelligent;  it  is  only  flavored  with  an- 
tiquity. No  doubt  England  was  ready  to  think  that  Gladstone  had  lost 
his  ability  as  a  financier,  and  was  likely  to  lose  his  mind,  for  the 
English  shop-keeper  could  never  understand  Gladstone's  financial  abil- 
ity, and  he  was  not  always  proven  an  omniscient  judge  on  the  latter 
subject. 

Certain  it  is,  that  during  the  whole  of  that  campaign,  and  for  long 
afterwards,  Gladstone's  name  was  a  name  of  execration  and  despite, 


*  From  the  "Letters  of  James  Russell  Lowell,"  copyright,  Harpers, 
N.  Y. 


342  GLADSTONE:    A  BIOGRAPHICAL  STUDY. 

whenever  those  who  ought  to  have  trusted  him  most,  ventured  to  speak 
of  him  in  public. 

When  the  Tories  came  into  power  a  most  interesting  and  bumptious 
scion  of  the  house  of  Marlborough  leaped  to  the  front,  and,  as  in  the 
Bradlaugh  debate,  he  completely  overshadowed  men  of  greater  genius 
and  larger  views,  so  here  the  former  leader  of  the  House  under  the 
Conservative  Government  had  to  stand  back,  and  the  new  Chancellor 
of  the  Exchequer,  Lord  Randolph  Churchill,  became  leader  of  the 
House.  A  certain  sort  of  ability  he  possessed  in  a  very  remarkable  de- 
gree. He  had  a  profound  belief  that  he  ought  to  be  heard,  and  he  had 
a  remarkable  gift  in  the  direction  of  making  himself  heard.  Salisbury 
had  constituted  the  new  Tory  Administration,  and  his  active  lieutenant 
in  the  House  of  Commons  found  himself  opposed  to  a  man  seventy- 
six  years  of  age  and  a  cause  as  old  as  liberty  and  as  young  as  her 
fondest  hope. 

Soon  Lord  Randolph  Churchill  added  to  the  list  of  his  brilliant  sur- 
prises by  resigning  from  the  Salisbury  Government  and  declining  a 
career  as  Chancellor  of  the  Exchequer,  which  appeared  brilliant  indeed. 
The  truth  is  that  Lord  Salisbury  and  the  ardent  young  Lord  could  not 
agree.  Things  never  went  with  sufficient  rapidity,  not  to  say  vivacity,  to 
suit  Lord  Randolph.  It  got  to  be  the  habit  of  the  English  public  to 
think  of  him  as  one  who  wanted  to  stir  up  the  old  fellows  at  West- 
minster and  have  a  great  and  jolly  time  with  them.  When  Lord  Ran- 
dolph wanted  the  public  to  laugh  at  him  they  persisted  in  thinking 
him  a  very  bright  and  valuable  man;  when  he  wanted  the  public  to 
regard  him  with  seriousness,  they  laughed.  The  fact  is  that  he  had  the 
faith  of  Disraeli,  that  it  is  possible  to  gather  into  one  interest  and  make 
a  sort  of  trust  out  of  Toryism  and  its  superciliousness  on  the  one  side, 
and  democracy,  its  ignorance  and  prejudice  on  the  other.  He  said  in 
the  House  of  Commons  on  the  land  subject: 

"The  system  of  a  single  ownership  of  land  in  Ireland  we  believe  may 
be  the  ultimate  solution  of  the  difficulties  of  the  Irish  Land  Question.  Mr. 
Gladstone  has  been  defeated  in  order  to  prevent  Land  Purchase,  and  here 
were  his  conquerers  proposing  Land  Purchase  the  moment  they  appeared 
before  Parliament.  But  this  was  not  all.  The  main  argument,  as  has  been 


THE  AGED  WARRIOR.  343 

seen,  against  Mr.  Gladstone's  proposal,  was  that  it  would  impose  taxation 
on  the  British  taxpayer.  Mr.  Gladstone  entirely  denied  this,  and  agreed 
with  his  opponents  in  thinking  that  any  burden  on  the  British  taxpayer 
for  the  payment  of  the  Irish  landlord  would  be  monstrously  inequitable. 
But  the  turn  of  his  conquerors  had  come,  and  the  chief  among  them 
laid  down  that  not  only  would  the  British  taxpayer  have  to  pay  for  the 
Irish  landlord,  but  that  he  ought.  Lord  Salisbury  was  dealing  with  the 
judicial  rents  fixed  by  the  Land  Courts,  and  with  the  demand  that  these 
rents  should  once  again  be  revised.  Such  a  general  demand  he  described 
the  Government  as  resolved  to  reject.  But  if  it  should  come  out  that  the 
Courts  have  made  blunders,  and  that  there  is  that  impossibility  in  any 
case  of  paying  rent,  I  think  it  is  not  the  landlords  who  should  bear  the 
loss.  I  think  this  would  be  one  of  the.  cases  for  the  application  of  the 
principle  of  purchase  by  the  State,  and  that  the  State,  and  not  the  land- 
lords, must  suffer  for  the  errors  that  have  been  made." 

Of  course  it  was  impossible  for  him  to  make  this  theory  work, 
for  Ireland  would  not  admit,  as  Mr.  O'Connor  says,  that  the  rent  of 
the  landlords  "had  been  fixed  as  to  time  through  blunders."  To  adopt 
this  and  reject  the  land  proposal  of  Mr.  Gladstone  was  out  of  the 
question.  The  Irish  party  was  up  in  arms  at  once.  Mr.  Parnell  met 
the  proposal  which  Mr.  Chamberlain  might  have  been  expected  to 
agree  to,  but  Chamberlain  was  not  heard  from.  Mr.  Gladstone  was 
meanwhile  sitting  with  Dr.  Dollinger  in  Germany  and  recuperating  his 
energies  by  discussing  theology  and  philosophy  with  that  famous  athlete 
in  both.  Back  to  Parliament  he  came  and  gave  his  voice  to  the  old 
cause.  Mr.  Parnell's  bill  was  rejected.  The  fact  is  that  there  was  dis- 
order in  the  ranks,  and  what  is  known  as  the  Plan  of  Campaign  was 
adopted  and  published  to  the  world  October  23d,  1886.  It  is  too  long 
to  reproduce  here,  and  is  perhaps  well  understood  by  our  readers.  The 
Government  had  appointed  a  commission  to  inquire  into  the  condition  of 
the  Land  Question  and  also  as  to  intimidation  and  unlawful  conspiracy. 
The  Irish  party  took  such  ground  as  to  justify  Mr.  Parnell  rather  than 
Sir  Michael  Hicks-Beach,  who  was  the  representative  of  the  Govern- 
ment. It  was  very  certain  that  the  latter  had  to  confess  that  crime  had 
been  decreased  by  the  Irish  people  themselves.  Things  were  getting 
on  very  well,  and  Ireland  was  learning  to  like  Sir  Michael  Hicks-Beach, 


344  GLADSTONE:    A  BIOGRAPHICAL  STUDY. 

when  he  resigned,  and  Mr.  Arthur  Balfour  became  Chief  Secretary. 
Here  was  a  man  persistent,  able,  scholarly,  and  he  had  the  whole  Tory 
tradition  and  Government  behind  him.  Six  years  before  he  had  begun 
to  antagonize  Mr.  Gladstone  and  his  proposals.  Without  Gladstone's 
physical  strength,  and  with  none  of  Gladstone's  intensity  of  conviction 
or  utterance,  this  languid  and  well-mannered  relative  of  Lord  Salisbury, 
sharing,  by  the  way,  Gladstone's  love  of  theological  lore,  roused  himself 
from  that  lassitude  and  indifferentism  of  which  he  often  gave  a  picture  in 
the  House  of  Commons,  and  proved  himself  one  of  the  firmest  and  most 
vigorous  of  men  who  ever  undertook  to  rule  Ireland.  But  he  was  not 
powerful,  except  along  lines  which  prophesied  nothing  for  the  future. 

Such  men  as  James  Russell  Lowell  thought,  with  England,  that 
Gladstone  did  not  know  his  own  mind.  Lowell  writes  (see  "Letters  of 
James  Russell  Lowell,"  copyright,  Harpers,  N.  Y.),  May  22,  1887: 

"At  dinner,  by  the  way,  I  was  glad  to  meet  John  Morley  for  the  first 
time  since  my  return.  He  welcomed  me  most  cordially  but  looks  older 
and  a  little  worn  with  the  friction  of  politics.  But  the  cheerful  fanaticism 
of  his  face  is  always  exhilarating  to  me,  though  I  feel  that  it  would  have 
the  same  placidly  convinced  expression  if  my  head  were  rolling  at  his 
feet  at  the  exigence  of  some  principle.  He  knows  where  he  stands  on  the 
Home  Rule  question  better  than  Gladstone,  for  his  opinions  are  more 
the  result  of  conviction  than  of  sentiment." 

He  writes  again,  May  26: 

"I  have  seen  Gladstone  several  times,  and  he  is  lighthearted  as  a  boy 
— as  lightheaded,  too,  I  might  almost  say.  I  am  amazed  at  the  slowness 
of  people  here  in  seeing  that  the  ice  they  have  been  floating  on  is  about  to 
break  up — nay,  will  at  the  first  rough  water.  The  Irish  question  is  only 
incidental  to  the  larger  question  of  their  whole  system  of  landholding,  and 
the  longer  they  delay  settling  that  the  more  inevitable  is  it  that  this  should 
stir  itself.  It  is  a  misfortune  and  not  a  crime  to  be  entangled  in  an  an- 
achronism, but  if  one  won't  do  what  he  can  to  break  loose,  one  must  share 
its  fate  without  complaint  or  hope  of  compensation." 

No  doubt  Balfour's  position  was  one  which  could  not  have  been 
filled  satisfactorily  by  any  man  in  England  who  was  willing  to  admin- 


THE  AGED  WARRIOR.  345 

ister  the  affairs  of  Ireland  on  the  Tory  philosophy.  Whatever  reason 
Gladstone  had  for  opposing  coercion  as  a  scheme  of  civilizing  Irishmen 
in  the  past,  Balfour's  career  in  Ireland  had  furnished  him  with  count- 
less other  reasons  why  it  was  not  to  be  thought  of  as  the  scheme  of 
the  future.  Balfour's  reign  was  denominated  a  reign  of  terror,  and  his 
career  in  Ireland  was  called  a  regime  of  brutality.  England  and  Ireland 
could  hardly  have  warred  more  seriously  or  foully.  Bayonets  and 
policemen  made  Ireland  look  like  a  besieged  territory.  Gladstone's  ad- 
ministration had  permitted  police  reporters  on  the  platform  where  Irish- 
men spoke,  and  none  had  made  objection.  Indeed,  the  speakers  them- 
selves had  arranged  for  the  police  reporters;  but  now  the  latter  came 
in  a  warlike  fashion;  the  crowd  resisted  usually,  and  law  and  order  were 
despised  and  trampled  under  foot.  A  single  occasion  of  this  sort  fur- 
nished Balfour  with  matter  which  was  laid  before  the  House  of  Com- 
mons. He  was  singularly  unfortunate  because  his  information  was  lu- 
dicrously inaccurate,  and  very  soon  the  Irish  people  believed  ;hat  En- 
glish Government  in  Ireland  meant  armed  injustice. 

The  Coercion  Act  was  signed  by  the  Queen  on  the  I7th  of  July, 
1887.  Within  a  few  days,  armed  with  this  new  instrumentality  and  rely- 
ing on  intimidation,  he  proclaimed  the  greater  part  of  Ireland  as  terri- 
tory to  be  governed  under  the  most  stringent  clause  of  this  act.  The 
National  League  was  declared  dangerous.  He  had  started  out  to  put 
down  what  he  called  "crime,"  and  the  National  League  was  not  con- 
sidered by  the  Irish  people  to  be  a  criminal  organization.  On  the 
charges  of  inciting  acts  of  violence  and  the  promotion  of  interference 
with  the  administration  of  the  law:  the  League  found  two  hundred  of 
its  branches  suppressed  by  the  first  of  October.  Tenants  were  evicted 
by  landlords  everywhere,  and  the  Irish  press  was  muzzled.  Distin- 
guished and  honorable  Irishmen  were  sentenced  to  imprisonment,  and 
it  came  to  be  romantic,  as  any  such  incident  of  martyrdom  will,  to  spend 
some  time  in  one  of  the  prisons,  in  obedience  to  the  English  Govern- 
ment. Indictments  were  presented  against  editors,  lawyers  and  speak- 
ers of  every  degree  of  importance  who  denounced  coercive  measures. 
In  one  case,  Mr.  Balfour's  indifference  to  humanity  had  been  so  great 
that  Gladstone  himself  had  described  the  occurrence  of  certain  deaths, 


346  GLADSTONE:    A  BIOGRAPHICAL  STUDY. 

concerning  which  no  adequate  inquiry  had  been  made,  as  inhuman  in 
the  extreme,  and  he  said  the  three  men  were  treated  "as  though  they 
had  been  three  dogs."  Cases  were  brought  before  Mr.  Balfour  involv- 
ing young  boys  who  would  have  been  incapable  of  giving  offense  to  any 
justly  strong  Government,  but  he  administered  unchecked  the  provis- 
ions of  the  Coercion  Act.  The  Irish  people  could  not  quite  see,  as 
one  of  the  best  of  them  explained,  the  difference  between  their  own 
boycotting  societies  and  the  highly  respectable  association  of  Tories  in 
England  called  the  Primrose  League. 

During  all  this  time  grosser  outrages  were  growing  more  frequent 
in  spite  of  the  Coercion  Act  and  the  pitiless  execution  of  it  by  Mr. 
Balfour.  In  one  famous  case  Mr.  Gladstone  took  such  interest  as  to 
enable  him  to  declare  that  the  whole  affair  was  "a  travesty  of  justice,  as 
gross,  as  palpable,  and  as  shameful  as  any  that  ever  disgraced  even  the 
career  of  Judge  Jeffreys."  Gladstone  asked  if  Balfour  was  not  going 
to  dismiss  certain  cases  of  injustice.  Balfour  replied  that  he  was  not. 
The  conscience  of  England  was  becoming  more  sensitive  with  refer- 
ence to  these  horrors.  Landlords  were  beginning  to  see  that  Ireland 
was  growing  to  be  a  hotbed  of  deep  and  permanent  rebelliousness,  and 
that  extremity  of  disorder  would  come  unless  something  could  be  done 
to  make  the  relationship  between  landlords  and  tenantry  more  satis- 
factory. The  whole  enterprise  under  Balfour  made  the  Coercion  Act,  as 
Frederick  Harrison  said,  "an  instrument  which  could  be  applied  only 
to  evict." 

The  Irish  people  demanded  the  same  power  granted  to  the  Land 
Commissioners  in  Ireland  as  was  granted  to  the  Land  Commissioners 
in  Scotland.  Here  were  unjust  arrears,  and  here  were  also  unjust  rents. 
It  was  one  problem  with  two  sides.  To  deal  with  it  justly  would  save 
Ireland  from  turmoil  and  England  from  danger. 

Every  nerve  was  strained  in  England  to  uphold  the  system  of  coer- 
cion. Parnell  and  his  following  must  be  put  down  at  all  costs.  The 
London  Times,  in  its  foolish  ardor,  blundered  into  publishing  with  a 
flourish  of  trumpets,  a  forged  letter  attributed  to  Mr.  Parnell.  It  was 
as  follows: 

"May  15,  1882. 
"Dear  Sir:    I  am  not  surprised  at  your  friend's  anger,  but  he  and 


THE  AGED   WARRIOR.  347 

you  should  know  that  to  denounce  the  murders  was  the  only  course  open 
to  us.    To  do  that  promptly  was  plainly  our  best  policy. 

"But  you  can  tell  him  and  all  others  concerned  that  though  I  regret 
the  accident  of  Lord  F.  Cavendish's  death,  I  cannot  refuse  to  admit  that 
Burke  got  no  more  than  his  deserts. 

"You  are  at  liberty  to  show  him  this,  and  others  whom  you  can 
trust  also;  but  let  not  my  address  be  known.  He  can  write  to  House  of 
Commons.  Yours  Very  Truly, 

"CHAS.  S.  PARNELL." 

One  may  easily  imagine  the  sensation  created  by  such  a  publication, 
at  such  a  crisis  as  this.  After  a  long  and  fearful  trial,  Mr.  Parnell's 
cowardly  antagonist  was  crushed,  and  the  forger  of  the  letter  commit- 
ted suicide.  Through  it  all,  Mr.  Gladstone  stood  holding  fast  to  his 
faith  and  rendering  such  service  to  those  who  were  watching  with  him 
the  growth  of  a  better  sentiment.  The  popular  revolt  against  Balfour's 
method  and  the  treatment  given  to  Parnell  and  the  Irish  cause  swept 
against  the  Government,  and  when  Mr.  Balfotir  spoke,  he  was  coldly 
received  by  the  masses  of  honest  men  who  were  indignant  at  the  sense- 
less antagonism  to  the  Irish  people  and  at  the  "Times"  in  its  conduct 
toward  Parnell.  Toryism  flagged  throughout  the  debate.  Dr.  Tanner, 
having  escaped  arrest,  made  his  appearance,  and  Gladstone  delivered 
a  masterly  speech.  When  Mr.  Parnell  arose,  Mr.  Gladstone  exultantly 
joined  with  John  Morley  and  Sir  William  Harcourt  and  the  crowd  of 
Liberals  who  cheered  him  vociferously.  At  length  the  Grand  Old  Man 
addressed  the  House.  The  echoes  of  Gladstone's  speech  rang  through 
the  House  of  Commons  and  re-echoed  through  England.  His  descrip- 
tion of  the  character  and  conduct  of  the  Government,  which  was  then 
falling  to  pieces,  was  an  awful  denunciation  of  power  haughtily  used  by 
unrighteous  hands.  He  saw  the  coming  of  Home  Rule,  and  he  spoke 
like  a  prophet  and  seer.  These  were  his  concluding  words: 

"You  may  deprive  of  its  grace  and  of  its  freedom  the  act  which  you 
are  asked  to  do,  but  avert  that  act  you  cannot.  To  prevent  its  consum- 
mation is  utterly  beyond  your  power.  It  seems  to  approach  at  an  accel- 
erated rate.  Coming  slowly  or  coming  quickly,  surely  it  is  coming.  And 
you  yourselves,  many  of  you,  must  in  your  own  breasts  be  aware  that 
already  you  see  in  the  handwriting  on  the  wall  the  signs  of  the  coming 
doom." 


CHAPTER  XLI. 
THE   GRAND   OLD   MAN  AGAIN   IN   POWER. 

With  the  last  decade  of  his  life  our  readers  are  doubtless  familiar. 
At  the  general  election  of  1892  Mr.  Gladstone  was  again  given  the 
reins  of  government,  and  he  stood  triumphant  over  the  combination  of 
Tories  and  Liberal  Unionists,  with  a  majority  of  two  Home  Rulers, 
England  and  Ireland,  to  make  him  sure  of  his  position.  For  the  fourth 
time  he  was  asked  and  consented  to  constitute  a  Government  under 
Her  Majesty,  and  he  became  the  Prime  Minister.  Dauntlessly  true  to 
the  ideas  to  which  he  had  consecrated  the  last  years  of  his  increasingly 
glorious  career,  and  never  more  sure  of  the  certainty  of  triumph  for 
those  principles  which  he  had  embodied  in  his  plan  for  Home  Rule  than 
at  that  moment,  he  introduced  a  Bill  on  the  I3th  of  February,  1893. 
Everything  that  Gladstone  had  done  in  the  past  for  Home  Rule  ap- 
peared to  have  been  a  seed  which  blossomed  into  fullest  fragrance  in 
this  public  measure.  What  was  called  a  "Parliament  of  Broken 
Pledges"  lay  as  an  ugly  wreck  behind  him,  but  it  gave  such  a  lesson 
to  England  that  it  was  easy  for  Gladstone  to  obtain  a  hearing  for  his 
wider  and  juster  conceptions  of  the  mission  of  constitutional  gov- 
ernment. He,  himself,  had  grown,  and  Ireland  was  to  be  represented 
at  Westminster  by  the  action  of  this  new  Bill.  It  was  a  vast  improve- 
ment over  any  previously  proposed  statute.  Mr.  Parnell  no  longer 
appeared  as  the  leader  of  the  Irish  Nationalists,  but  Mr.  Asquith,  who 
had  moved  the  vote  of  want  of  public  confidence  in  the  Tory  Gov- 
ernment, early  in  June,  1892,  had  risen  before  England  as  something 
else  besides  the  successful  and  learned  orator  at  the  bar,  which  he  un- 
doubtedly had  been  for  years,  and  Gladstone  was  ably  assisted  by  his 
great  and  various  Parliamentary  talents.  He  made  Mr.  Asquith,  Home 
Secretary,  and  this  gentleman  was  not  long  in  demonstrating  to  En- 
gland that  Gladstone's  power  of  finding  the  right  man  and  putting  him 

348 


THE  GRAND   OLD   MAN  AGAIN   IN  POWER.         349 

in  the  right  place  had  made  answer  to  the  query:  "Why  Asquith?"  This 
gentleman  now  showed  himself  to  be  a  man  of  vast  administrative  ca- 
pacity. 

Gladstone  also  called  to  his  aid  such  men  as  Bryce,  who  has  written 
the  best  book,  in  any  language,  on  our  own  American  institutions  from 
a  foreigner's  point  of  view;  and  an  old  friendship  received  undeniable 
and  worthy  witness  in  the  fact  that  Mr.  Arthur  Ackland  was  placed  in 
charge  of  public  education.  Sir  William  Vernon  Harcourt  was  made 
Chancellor  of  the  Exchequer,  and  Lord  Rosebery,  upon  whom  Mr. 
Gladstone's  eye  had  already  rested  as  his  immediate  successor,  was 
placed  in  charge  of  foreign  affairs.  Gladstone  made  his  old  friend  and 
literary  companion,  Lord  Houghton,  Lord  Lieutenant  of  Ireland.  It 
was  perhaps  wise  that  the  sharp  sword  of  Mr.  Labouchere,  editor  and 
proprietor  of  Truth,  was  not  made  an  active  instrumentality  of  Cabinet 
life.  These  were  the  men  closest  to  Gladstone  when  he  came  forward 
with  his  Home  Rule  scheme,  in  which  England  learned  that  one  of 
the  main  features  of  the  earlier  scheme,  namely,  a  separate  Irish  Parlia- 
ment, with  no  representative  for  Ireland  in  the  Imperial  Parliament  at 
London,  was  left  out.  Nothing,  however,  which  he  proposed  in  this 
measure  could  win  back  Mr.  Chamberlain,  but  Sir  George  Trevelyan 
joined  himself  to  Mr.  Gladstone's  party,  and  the  latter  thus  found  him- 
self again  officered  by  this  genial  and  able  lieutenant. 

He  had  gone  through  a  long  struggle  with  reference  to  the  question 
as  to  whether  Parnell,  who  had  suffered  from  a  damaging  experience 
in  the  Divorce  Court,  in  a  case  which  had  gone  against  him,  should  be 
allowed  to  lead  the  Irish  contingent,  and,  indeed,  make  any  sort  of  figure 
in  English  life.  Ireland  had  never  been  kind  to  her  best  friend  and 
champion.  Gladstone's  loyalty  to  principle  had,  however,  never  wav- 
ered, in  spite  of  this  fact.  But  Parnell  had  disappeared,  and  the  Home 
Rule  cause  was  freed  from  this  embarrassment,  and  Gladstone's  Bill 
swept  through  the  House  of  Commons.  Never  has  a  man  who  tried  to 
do  something  valuable  and  just  for  a  wronged  people,  in  any  era  of 
human  history,  been  more  embarrassed,  annoyed  and  outraged  by  the 
behavior  of  those  who  connected  themselves  or  were  numbered  with  the 
defenders  of  that  people,  than  was  William  Ewart  Gladstone,  the  friend 


350  GLADSTONE:    A  "BIOGRAPHICAL  STUDY. 

of  Ireland,  when  he  stood  with  the  Irish  party  hopelessly  at  war  within 
itself  and  when  England  looked  on  laughingly  and  tauntingly  as  the 
Kilkenny  fight  among  them  proceeded.  Thousands  of  men  who  were 
led  by  Gladstone's  faith  to  believe  in  the  capacity  of  even  that  section  of 
humanity  for  self-government  beheld  the  wretched  and  dismaying  exhi- 
bition which  the  Irish  people  made  of  themselves,  and  to  the  sorrow, 
and  often  to  the  consternation  of  Gladstone  and  his  followers,  they 
pointed  out  what  they  believed  to  be  traits  of  Irish  character,  or  at 
least  conditions  of  the  Irish  mind,  which  made  Home  Rule  appear  only 
a  fantastic  vision  generated  by  a  brilliant  mind  now  coming  to  its  dotage. 
The  antagonistic  sections  of  the  Irish  people  did  not  fail  to  supply  a 
most  sickening  picture  to  the  heart  of  the  greater  leader.  At  unex- 
pected times,  and  in  entirely  unforeseen  ways,  crime  lifted  its  scaly  form 
in  Ireland;  and  it  must  be  admitted  that  there  was  great  sympathy  even 
for  the  House  of  Lords,  when  it  was  known  that  they  hesitated  to  pass 
Gladstone's  Bill  which  had  been  successful  in  the  House  of  Commons. 
But  the  Lords,  did  more  than  hesitate;  they  rejected  the  Bill  by  an 
enormous  majority.  This  was  the  last  fact  which  could  in  any  way 
bewilder  the  brain  or  extract  the  courage  from  the  heart  of  a  Com- 
moner like  Gladstone.  He  knew  the  House  of  Lords  represented  the 
vanishing  tradition  which  had  organized  that  body  too  often  into  oppo- 
sition against  measures  whose  passage  through  Parliament  the  English 
people  demanded.  He  saw  another  thing  which  is  sure  to  come  to 
pass  in  England,  that  Anglo-Saxon  freedom  under  Anglo-Saxon  law 
will  at  length  demand  the  most  thorough  reform  or  the  total  abolition 
of  the  House  of  Lords. 

This,  however,  was  not  the  time  for  Mr.  Gladstone  to  inaugurate 
such  a  far-reaching  movement  as  would  disrupt  and  perhaps  destroy 
the  Upper  House.  That  crusade  must  be  led  by  another.  He  was  a 
worker  who  had  earned  his  right  to  rest,  if  only  by  the  fact  that  in 
recent  years  he  had  undertaken  such  gigantic  labors  and  carried  them 
through  with  such  infinite  tact  and  toil.  He  had  been  incessant  in  labor 
in  and  out  of  season.  None  of  his  party  could  ever  persuade  him  that  he 
might  be  absent  from  sessions  of  the  House  of  Commons  while  his 
projects  were  in  the  fire  of  debate.  His  enormous  passion  for  work  in 


THE  GRAND   OLD  MAN  AGAIN   IN  POWER.        351 

the  cause  of  law  and  liberty  took  him  into  the  closest  study  of  all  sorts 
of  subjects  which  were  likely  to  appear  before  the  mind  of  the  Lower 
House.  Punch  has  made  a  picture  of  Gladstone  which  almost  every 
visitor  to  the  House  of  Commons  will  recognize  as  vividly  true, — the 
eager,  radiant-eyed,  flushed  old  man,  sitting  on  the  edge  of  his  seat, 
either  trying  to  catch  the  eye  of  the  speaker  at  the  moment  when  he 
might  furnish  the  House  some  information,  or  expose  some  ignorance 
of  which  he  alone  was  aware,  or  anxious  to  call  to  himself  some  lieuten- 
ant who  would  execute  his  orders.  Like  a  sleepless  general,  he  always 
directed  the  battle. 

As  a  young  man,  he  had  trained  himself  to  answer  every  question, 
discuss  every  clause,  give  amazing  patience  and  careful  knowledge  to 
any  less  strenuous  ally,  or  more  querulous  member,  and  now,  even  while 
some  one  else  was  expected  to  look  after  Financial  Budgets,  he  pursued 
the  same  method  in  handling  doubtful  friends  or  dangerous  foes,  in  con- 
ciliating those  whom  he  had  provoked  by  his  straightforwardness,  and 
in  supplying  the  defenders  of  the  measure  of  which  he  was  the  champion 
with  all  the  resources  with  which  he  himself  came  and  triumphed  in 
debate.  Never  was  a  great  man  more  lavish  in  bestowing  his  gifts  and 
intelligence  upon  those  who  could  only  be  his  lieutenants.  He  had 
been  especially  careful  to  note  the  appearance  of  every  really  noble  and 
rising  young  man;  and  it  was  his  habit  to  grant  to  him  complete  pos- 
session of  the  large  stores  of  knowledge  and  the  lessons  of  his  long 
Parliamentary  experience;  and  even  when  ingratitude  showed  itself,  or 
jealousy  exhibited  its  less  hideous  features,  the  Grand  Old  Man  acted 
as  though  he  had  no  power  of  control  or  weapon  of  argument  which 
he  would  not  willingly  give  into  the  hands  of  some  one  else,  if,  by  that 
means,  the  measure  initiated  for  public  good  might  be  made  victorious. 
The  House  of  Commons,  though  he  was  opposed  for  long  years  by 
Disraeli,  sharply  attacked  by  Lord  Randolph  Churchill,  forsaken  by 
John  Bright,  mercilessly  fought  by  Joseph  Chamberlain,  became  a 
school  for  young  debaters,  who  have  profited  by  beholding  how  much 
of  patient  generosity  and  gentility  may  be  allied  with  unprecedented 
skill  and  boundless  resource  in  such  a  figure  and  influence  as  Gladstone. 
Young  men  were  put  to  shame,  oftentimes,  by  beholding  this  redoubta- 


352  GLADSTONE:    A  BIOGRAPHICAL  STUDY. 

ble  old  man  holding  in  his  firm,  yet  courteous  grasp,  a  beaten  minority 
or  a  half  despairing  majority,  until  he  could,  by  persistent  appeal  and 
adroit  maneuver,  win  the  day  for  his  party.  At  the  last  of  his  career 
in  the  House  of  Commons,  the  exquisite  modulations  of  that  voice 
which  would  have  given  him  distinction  as  a  singer,  fell  upon  the  ears 
of  friends  and  foes  alike,  in  its  subtle  and  resistless  music. 

Age  had  transformed  the  passion  of  his  antagonists  into  something 
like  respectful  admiration  of  the  unprecedented  talents  and  superb  cour- 
age, if  not  the  large  statesmanship,  of  one  whose  name  is  the  pride  of 
Anglo-Saxon  civilization.  Men  seemed  to  know  that  he  had  fought 
his  fight,  and  that  it  had  been  a  noble  one,  that  he  had  withstood  the 
noise  and  severity  of  personal  encounter  with  the  mob,  had  showed  the 
opposition  a  hundred  times  that  he  knew  no  such  thing  as  fear,  and 
was,  in  the  eventide  of  life,  as  clear  in  his  comprehension  of  the  truth 
he  wanted  to  state  as  ever  before,  and  that  the  genuine  reverence  in 
which  the  dauntless  old  orator  was  held,  became  witness,  not  only  to  his 
unique  talents,  but  also  to  the  generosity  of  his  lifelong  foes.  There  can 
be  no  question  that  Gladstone,  the  once  haughty  and  thoroughly 
equipped  Tory,  had  an  imperiousness  of  manner  when  he  was  in  the 
fray,  which  bore  down  hard,  sometimes,  upon  friend  and  foe  alike.  He 
had  taken  everything  in  his  life  seriously.  He  had  been  in  dead  earnest 
from  the  beginning  to  the  very  end  of  his  career;  and  yet,  with  the  mel- 
low evening  there  came  a  sweetness  of  temper  and  a  glowing  beauty  dif- 
fusing itself  from  his  very  presence,  with  which  it  was  impossible  to 
contend  and  in  whose  influence  it  was  delightful  to  stand. 

The  Grand  Old  Man  was  about  to  place  the  reins  of  government  in 
other  hands.  It  was  now  impossible  for  him,  as  it  had  been  in  1860,  to 
carry  his  Bill  over  the  House  of  Lords.  He  might  have  denounced 
them  with  the  same  resistless  force  of  appeal  and  lofty  arguments  with 
which  he  disdained  to  scorn  their  action  when  his  Bill  for  the  abolition 
of  Duty  on  Paper  had  been  rejected.  His  friends  urged  him  to  appeal 
to  the  country,  after  dissolving  Parliament.  They  still  saw  in  the  aged 
Commoner  the  potencies  for  a  triumph  such  as  might  take  from  the  ma- 
chinery of  English  political  life  a  good  deal  of  unnecessary  and  anti- 
quated material.  Radicalism  beseeched  him  to  make  the  fight  against 


THE  GRAND   OLD    MAN   AGAIN   IN   POWER.         ^3 

the  House  of  Lords.  But  there  were  reasons,  which  Gladstone  himself 
never  made  public,  but  which  ultimately  led  him  even  to  deny  the  Lib- 
eral party  the  prestige  and  force  of  his  own  leadership,  and  the  great 
leader  went  to  the  ranks  as  a  follower  in  the  House  of  Commons. 

After  a  brief  respite  from  public  cares  to  which  latter,  even  as  an  or- 
dinary member  of  the  House  of  Commons,  he  gave  his  usual  laborious- 
ness  and  power,  he  found  himself,  in  1894,  on  the  Treasury  Bench,  his 
Home  Rule  measure  having  been  rejected  by  the  House  of  Lords. 
His  face  was  still  radiant  with  the  hope  that,  by  and  by,  and  in  other 
hands,  it  would  achieve  its  triumph.  It  was  interesting  to  watch  him 
in  those  days  as  he  came  up  against  the  fact  that  the  House  of  Lords 
only  had  obstructed  the  progress  of  what  he  believed  to  be  most  im- 
portant legislation  in  the  interests  of  the  British  Empire.  Once  more 
they  now  unrighteously  interfered.  It  was  on  a  small  matter, — the  Par- 
ish Councils  Bill, — but  Gladstone  spoke  one  word,  which  lifted  the 
Liberal  party  to  its  feet.  He  seemed  to  see  the  people  of  the  Empire 
rising  in  revolt  at  its  dogged  Conservatism  and  its  jaunty  reappearance 
as  an  obstructionist.  He  said: 

"For  me,  my  duty  terminates  with  calling  the  attention  of  this  House 
to  a  fact  which  it  is  really  impossible  to  set  aside — that  we  are  considering 
a  part,  an  essential  and  inseparable  part,  of  a  question  enormously  large, 
a  question  which  has  become  profoundly  a  truth,  a  question  that  will  de- 
mand a  settlement,  and  must  at  an  early  date  receive  that  settlement 
from  the  highest  authority." 

If  Gladstone  had  been  a  Disraeli,  theatrical  as  well  as  eloquent,  lov- 
ing to  explode  a  sentiment  as  well  as  to  put  himself  before  the  English 
people  as  their  only  deliverer  and  proper  guide,  he  would  have  taken 
advantage  of  that  hour,  echoing  still  with  the  storm  of  cheers  and  wit- 
nessing to  the  growing  quality  of  his  statesmanship  at  the  very  last. 
He  would  have  said  some  word  of  farewell  which  might  have  remained 
in  the  history  of  eloquence  and  patriotism,  unique  and  prophetic.  Per- 
haps he  did  not  do  that  thing  for  the  reason  that  through  all  his  soul 
there  moved  the  consciousness  that  his  Cabinet  and  he  were  not  in  such 
harmony  as  might  justify  his  speaking  from  such  a  position  in  the 
manner  usually  required  by  the  necessities  of  the  case.  He  was  great 

23 


354  GLADSTONE:    A  BIOGRAPHICAL  STUDY. 

enough  to  move  from  out  the  light  beating  against  the  throne  of  his 
power  without  an  attitude  or  gesture  which  could  be  misinterpreted.  He 
was  willing  to  retire  at  an  hour  when  the  British  nation  knew  how  per- 
ilous was  the  existence  of  the  House  of  Lords,  as  at  present  constituted, 
in  a  crisis  like  this. 

There  was  really  no  one  for  Gladstone  to  select  as  successor  but  Lord 
Rosebery.  A  crisis  had  come  in  the  life  of  the  Liberal  party,  and  it 
was  sure  that  Rosebery's  abilities,  his  connections,  and  the  attitude  of 
the  Liberal  leaders  toward  him  constituted  him  the  best  man  for  the 
place.  He  shared  many  of  Gladstone's  studies,  though  his  own  con- 
trasted with  Gladstone's  regularity  of  conduct,  for  he  was  in  the  habit 
of  giving  his  intervals  of  leisure  not  to  the  theology,  either  of  Abraham 
or  Homer,  but  to  the  interests  of  the  turf. 

The  young  Lord  and  Gladstone  had  often  chatted  together  about 
old  china,  or  the  most  recently  obtained  picture  from  the  brush  of  an  old 
master  acquired  for  the  National  Gallery.  They  had  been  interested 
likewise  in  orators,  novelists,  historians,  poets  and  essayists,  r.nd  Rose- 
bery, like  Gladstone,  was  possessed  of  immense  information.  He  was 
ambitious  to  be  a  great  orator  and  an  excellent  writer,  and  in  both  of 
these  ambitions  he  has  obtained,  especially  in  the  latter,  a  fair  measure 
of  success. 

Gladstone,  who  had  fought  under  Lord  John  Russell,  Lord  Pal- 
merston  and  Lord  Derby,  could  see  no  objection  to  him  because 
Rosebery  was  a  lord.  Gladstone  knew  the  immense  benefit  which 
should  accrue  to  him  by  having  at  his  hand  such  abilities  as  were  repre- 
sented by  Sir  William  Harcourt,  Mr.  Asquith,  John  Morley,  Arthur 
Morley,  Lord  Kimberley  and  Mr.  Fowler,  who  was  already  a  fine 
swordsman  in  debate.  His  successor  was  left  to  appoint  his  own  fol- 
lowers. He  was  to  have  the  richest  blessing  of  Mr.  Gladstone,  and  he 
was  duly  inducted  into  the  office,  with  Mr.  Leonard  Courtney  as  one  of 
his  efficient  lieutenants,  and  a  large  number  of  able  friends  as  his  fol- 
lowers. 


CHAPTER  XLII. 
GLADSTONE  THE  MAN. 

It  was  impossible  for  such  an  eventide  as  threw  its  calm  and  beaute- 
ous light  on  Gladstone,  to  have  visited  upon  a  less  noble  figure  its 
complete  and  serene  glory.  We  have  seen  the  statesman  as  a  student 
of  Christian  theology  and  of  Homer,  and  soon  we  behold  him  as  the 
translator  of  Horace,  adding  to  that  branch  of  literature  a  contribution 
as  characteristic  as  he  has  ever  given  to  the  world.  At  Hawarden  Castle 
he  lived  in  the  sweet  companionship  of  his  books.  His  library,  by  the 
way,  is  a  witness  to  the  many-sided  intellectual  and  spiritual  life  of  the 
deceased  statesman.  No  one  has  better  understood  the  value  and  sig- 
nificance of  books  than  he.  To  have  seen  him  at  Quaritch's,  in  Picca- 
dilly, roaming  about  amidst  that  unique  collection  of  rare  volumes, 
was  to  see  the  most  delighted  of  human  beings  in  the  most  charming 
environment.  Master  of  many  tongues,  he  would  pick  up  a  rare  edi- 
tion of  Dante  and  discourse  upon  the  seriousness  and  message  of  the 
austere  Italian  singer,  or,  having  lit  upon  the  earliest  printed  edition 
of  Homer,  he  would  find  a  page  which  started  his  mind  into  scholarly 
utterance,  or,  attracted  to  a  set  of  volumes  by  Racine,  or  a  volume  by 
Lacordaire,  he  would  state  with  discrimination  and  fullness  his  views 
of  the  position  of  the  one  in  poetry  and  of  the  other  in  churchmanship, 
and  thus,  from  old  missals  glorious  with  gold  and  color  or  yellow  with 
age,  and  interesting  from  previous  associations,  through  tomes  of 
church  fathers  and  exhibits  of  bindings,  which  latter  always  demanded 
hrs  careful  and  thorough  appreciation,  he  would  stray  over  to  the  Latin 
authors,  or  perhaps  to  a  Hebrew  Bible,  and,  thinking  at  that  moment  of 
a  review  which  he  was  writing  on  the  latest  important  novel,  he  would 
say:  "Send  me  all  the  new  books."  Thus  Hawarden  Castle  had  as  its 
point  of  central  interest  to  this  scholar,  the  magnificent  collection  of 
books  which  he  had  made  in  the  flight  of  more  than  a  half  century.  Every 

355 


356  GLADSTONE:    A  BIOGRAPHICAL  STUDY. 

villager  had  been  permitted  to  borrow  books  from  this  collection,  and 
oftentimes  one  might  see  a  young  hired  man  on  the  estate  journeying 
away  from  Hawarden  Castle  with  a  volume  of  most  precious  importance, 
both  to  the  lender  and  borrower.  The  large  tables  in  the  library  were 
each  of  them  devoted  to  special  subjects,  and,  in  late  years,  Gladstone 
returned  with  affection  to  the  Homer  table,  from  which  the  storm  of 
public  life  had  so  often  driven  him,  and  to  which,  as  often,  he  went  back 
with  joy.  In  that  library  such  authors  as  have  created  literatures  for 
their  own  exposition  had  their  separate  places,  thus  enabling  Mr.  Glad- 
stone and  the  members  of  his  family  to  study  them  with  ease;  and  there 
was  no  more  interesting  sight  for  a  bibliophile  than  the  Horace  table, 
or  the  theology  table,  or  the  Armenian  table,  as  these  subjects,  one  after 
another,  came  before  him  in  the  days  of  his  respite  from  arduous  labors. 
More  interesting  than  any  or  all  his  books  to  Gladstone  was  the 
woman  who  sat  with  him  through  so  many  days  and  nights,  whose 
father's  castle  became  his  home, — the  daughter  of  Sir  Stephen  Glynne — 
Mrs.  William  E.  Gladstone.  The  relationship  in  which  these  two  souls 
have  stood,  labored,  sorrowed,  triumphed,  has  furnished  an  ideal  chap- 
ter in  the  history  of  human  marriages.  Mrs.  Gladstone  has  been  his 
inspifer  and  guide,  his  closest  and  best  friend,  his  sincerest  appre- 
ciator  and  profoundest  critic,  his  companion  in  soul  and  intellect,  since 
that  lovely  day  in  which  they  found  themselves  man  and  wife  in  Hawar- 
den Castle.  She  has  matched  his  almost  measureless  capacity  for  work 
with  her  own.  She  has  equaled  his  with  her  own  intensity  of  conviction 
and  her  own  comprehensiveness  of  intellect.  She  has  gone  with  him 
through  severe  campaigns  in  Midlothian,  attending  to  his  wants  as  a 
mother  might  care  for  a  child,  partaking  of  the  excitement  of  approv- 
ing cheers  and  sharing  with  him  the  dangers  of  threatening  mobs;  at  his 
right  hand  supplying  him  with  this  needed  help  or  that  note  of  manu- 
script, nursing  him  through  colds,  and  arranging  for  his  hours  of  sleep, 
relieving  his  mind,  if  possible,  from  the  thousand  cares  which  come 
with  a  family  of  children — loved  and  nurtured  as  have  been  Gladstone's 
children,  going  with  him  to  the  little  graveyard,  and  standing  with  him 
by  the  empty  cradle,  traveling  to  the  last  from  place  to  place  on  the 
planet,  that  her  espoused  and  heroic  husband  might  gain  relief  from  tor- 


GLADSTONE  THE  MAN.  357 

turing  pain, — always  the  wife  and  mother,  the  friend  and  counsellor, 
his  soul's  veritable  mate. 

It  would  have  been  impossible  for  Gladstone  to  have  accomplished 
anything  like  the  measure  of  success  in  so  many  realms  of  human  prog- 
ress, if  he  had  been  otherwise  associated  in  his  family  life.  Mrs.  Glad- 
stone has  met  and  managed  the  vast  number  of  visitors  clamoring  for 
her  hqsband's  precious  hours,  and  rarely,  if  ever,  has  the  humblest  been 
pained  by  too  little,  or  the  loftiest  allowed  too  much,  of  his  time  and 
power,  by  the  firm  and  intelligent  administration  she  has  conducted. 
Together  with  him  she  has  walked  almost  daily  to  the  little  church  in 
the  village  where  the  English  Premier  has  often  read  the  lesson,  and 
where  he  was  delighted  and  uplifted  by  the  ministration  of  his  own  son. 
That  little  footpath  leading  from  the  Castle  to  the  church  has  been 
trodden  by  them  both  in  hours  when  British  and  international  states- 
manship was  receiving  its  best  inspiration  from  the  churchgoing  of  this 
indissoluble  couple.  When  he  went  forth,  as  was  his  habit,  with  axe 
in  hand,  to  strengthen  his  already  superb  physical  organism  by  cutting 
trees  in  Hawarden  Forest,  there  was  one  eye  which  followed  him  with 
the  love  which  she  conceived  when  first  they  met  in  Italy. 

Yet  his  favorite  exercise  was  only  one  of  the  many  ways  in  which 
his  tremendous  powers  were  employed.  He  would  as  likely  take  a  com- 
panion, and,  while  pouring  out  from  the  wealth  of  his  intelligence 
musical  speech  on  religion,  art,  or  politics,  he  would  persist  in  walking 
ten  or  twelve  miles,  or  set  himself  about  the  preparation  of  an  address 
as  Lord  Rector  of  the  University,  or  answer  the  command  of  his  Queen 
to  present  himself  at  St.  James'  Palace,  or  Osborne,  or  begin  his  reply 
to  the  editor  of  the  "Nineteenth  Century"  or  the  "Contemporary  Re- 
view," or  the  half  dozen  other  great  periodicals  in  England  or  America 
to  which  he  contributed;  or  perhaps  he  would  be  found  at  the  station, 
meeting  Robert  Browning,  or  the  Chancellor  of  the  University  of  Ox- 
ford, or  even  his  old  friend  Cardinal  Manning;  or  he  would  join  with 
one  of  his  sons  or  daughters  in  making  a  visit  to  some  helpless  or  un- 
fortunate one  among  the  many  who  lived  in  the  cottages  on  the  estate. 
In  all  these  and  in  a  hundred  other  ways,  Gladstone  Hved  his  life,  and 


358  GLADSTONE:    A  BIOGRAPHICAL  STUDY. 

it  was  shared  most  profoundly  by  the  woman  whom  Providence  gave 
to  him  as  companion. 

He  always  insisted  upon  his  right  to  his  Sunday,  and  he  attributed 
a  large  measure  of  his  health  and  good  spirits  to  the  fact  that  no  one 
was  able  to  steal  from  him  this  golden  day.  He  usually  attended  daily 
the  service  at  Hawarden,  or  elsewhere,  and  those  who  have  heard  him 
read  from  the  Scriptures  in  the  village  church  know  something  of  that 
feeling  which  was  possessed  by  the  great  historian  who  averred  his 
belief  that  Gladstone  would  have  been  the  most  fascinating,  as  well  as 
vigorous  power  in  English  church  life,  if  he  had  taken  orders  and  had, 
as  naturally  he  would  have  had,  a  career  closing  in  the  Archbishopric 
of  Canterbury  and  Primacy  of  all  England. 

England  has  lost  nothing,  the  world  has  gained  much  by  the  pic- 
ture which  is  left  to  a  materialistic  and  agnostic  age — of  the  Premier  of 
the  British  Empire  standing  at  the  reading-desk  and  filling  the  sacred 
house  with  the  tones  which  bore  to  his  hearers  the  vision  of  the  prophet, 
the  sigh  of  the  saint,  the  prayer  of  the  sinner,  and  the  wide  hope  of  the 
Evangelist.  The  Harley  street  house  in  London,  and  surely  the  Down- 
ing street  house,  never  entered  into  successful  rivalry  with  Hawarden  as 
Gladstone's  home.  Mrs.  Gladstone's  brother  added  a  new  wing  to  the 
castle  which  he  called  the  Gladstone  Wing,  dedicated  to  the  author, 
orator  and  statesman.  It  has  been  what  the  title  bestowed  upon  the 
library  would  indicate,  "The  Temple  of  Peace."  Here  and  at  a  church 
Gladstone  had  found  the  deepest  influences  coming  into  his  life.  It 
must  not  be  forgotten  at  any  point  in  Gladstone's  career,  that,  great  as 
he  was  as  a  man  of  letters  and  sure  and  powerful  as  was  that  stream 
of  literary  power  enforcing  arguments  and  illuminating  statements  in 
his  speeches  as  a  politician,  he  was  still  more  great  as  a  churchman,  and 
he  seemed  never  to  get  over  the  disappointment  at  not  having  been 
allowed,  in  his  youth,  to  pursue  the  career  of  a  minister.  Whatever 
peculiarity  of  mind  Mr.  Gladstone  has  shown,  may  be  traced, — at  least  it 
has  been  influenced  largely  by — the  fact  that  he  has  relied  upon  his 
religious  convictions  as  the  sole  foundation  of  the  political  structure  he 
would  build.  He  has  lived  a  singularly  upright  and  blameless  life.  But 
he  has  done  more  than  this,  he  began  and  continued  his  career  in  the 


GLADSTONE  THE  MAN.  359 

belief  that  every  strong  man  ought  to  feel,  as  he  has  felt,  that  he  is  an 
agent  for  the  carrying  out  of  the  Providential  designs  of  God.  Nothing 
else  will  explain  Gladstone's  utter  disregard  of  consequences  apparent 
to  other  men, — consequences  flowing  from  a  course  of  action  upon 
which  he  had  decided. 

He  believed  God  would  not  forsake  him,  and  if  he  had  an  imperious- 
ness  equal  to  Cromwell's,  he  fell  back  upon  the  faith  of  the  prophet 
which  he  believed  himself  to  be,  and  he  trusted  God  as  he  conceived 
Him.  We  have  pointed  out  that  it  is  a  churchman's  conception  of  God 
which  controlled  Gladstone.  Other  men  about  him  had  no  such  faith, 
even  in  their  own  conception  of  God,  still  less  did  they  feel  his  confi- 
dence in  the  God  whom  he  conceived.  Yet  never  even  Disraeli  sneered 
at  Gladstone's  religiousness.  On  the  other  hand,  the  former's  foreign 
policy  went  down  before  the  attack  made  by  Gladstone  upon  it,  in  the 
name  of  those  interests  which  are  usually  called  religious. 

Sunday  evening  at  Hawarden  Castle  commonly  closed  the  day  of 
meditation  and  prayer  and  reading,  with  the  singing  of  familiar  hymns, 
in  which  Gladstone  often  joined.  Monday  came  and  found  him  in 
Parliament  or  elsewhere,  refreshed  and  surer  than  ever  that  there  is 
ever  a  God  in  Israel.  Doubtless  he  oftentimes  mistook  his  somewhat 
churchly  view  of  God,  his  scholastically  conceived  opinions  about  what 
God  wanted  to  do,  for  these  sacred  things;  but  to  stand  on  his  feet  at 
all,  such  a  man  as  Gladstone  must  have  such  a  rigorous  and  even  im- 
perious faith.  Other  men  might  spend  Sunday  as  they  would;  here  was 
a  man  whose  lips  were  glowing  with  the  coal  from  God's  altars,  and, 
rested  and  inspired  as  he  was,  it  is  little  wonder  that  he  brought  a  keen 
intellect  and  an  almost  awful  laboriousness  to  Downing  street,  and,  then, 
every  official  in  the  Government  knew  that  the  conscientious  and  in- 
dustrious statesman  would  know  what  he  believed  to  be  the  truth  about 
all  the  affairs  of  the  Government.  An  intellect  having  such  a  grasp, 
and  ranging  over  such  territory  as  did  Gladstone's  intellect,  could  find 
nothing  else  upon  which  to  rely  in  the  varied  moods  and  in  the  multi- 
tudinous paths  it  must  know,  save  such  a  religious  life  as  he  has  lived. 
This  religious  enthusiasm  has  been  shared  by  his  wife  and  family,  and 
it  has  enlivened  many  pages  of  otherwise  dry  controversy. 


360  GLADSTONE:    A  BIOGRAPHICAL  STUDY. 

Gladstone's  home  was  always  a  resort  of  poets,  artists,  theologians, 
and  politicians,  from  every  quarter  of  the  world.  Even  Gladstone's  ab- 
horrence of  tobacco  yielded  to  Tennyson,  in  order  that  the  two  great 
friends  might  enjoy  happy  days  together. 

John  Ruskin  had  called  himself  a  Tory  such  as  Homer  and  Walter 
Scott,  and  he  had  violently  berated  Gladstone,  and  his  biography,  by 
Professor  Collinwood,  furnishes  no  more  delightful  page  than  this: 

"During  this  term,  1883,  he  was  prevailed  upon  to  allow  himself  to 
be  nominated  as  a  candidate  for  the  rectorship  of  the  University  of  Glas- 
gow. He  had  been  asked  to  stand  in  the  Conservative  interest  in  1880, 
and  he  had  been  worried  into  a  rather  rough  reply  to  the  Liberal  party, 
when  after  some  correspondence  they  asked  him  whether  he  sympathized 
with  Lord  Beaconsfield  or  Mr.  Gladstone.  'What  in  the  devil's  name/  he 
exclaimed,  'have  you  to  do  with  either  Mr.  Disraeli  or  Mr.  Gladstone? 
You  are  students  at  the  University,  and  have  no  more  business  with  poli- 
tics than  you  have  with  rat-catching.  Had  you  ever  read  ten  words  of 
mine  with  understanding,  you  would  have  known  that  I  care  no  more 
either  for  Mr.  Disraeli  or  Mr.  Gladstone  than  for  two  old  bagpipes  with  the 
drones  going  by  steam,  but  that  I  hate  all  Liberalism  as  I  do  Beelzebub, 
and  that,  with  Carlyle,  I  stand,  we  two  alone  now  in  England,  for  God  and 
the  Queen.'  After  that,  though  he  might  explain  that  he  never,  under  any 
conditions  of  provocation  or  haste,  would  have  said  that  he  hated  Liberal- 
ism as  he  did  Mammon,  or  Belial,  or  Moloch;  that  he  'chose  the  milder 
fiend  of  Ekron,  as  the  true  exponent  and  patron  of  Liberty,  the  God  of 
Flies;'  still  the  matter-of-fact  Glaswegians  were  minded  to  give  the  scoffer 
a  wide  berth.  He  was  put  up  as  an  independent  candidate  in  the  three-cor- 
nered duel ;  and,  as  such  candidates  usually  fare,  he  fared  badly.  The  only 
wonder  is  that  three  hundred  and  nineteen  students  were  found  to  vote 
for  him,  instead  of  siding,  in  political  orthodoxy,  with  Mr.  Fawcett  or  the 
Marquis  of  Bute." 

Yet  Ruskin  changed  his  opinion. 

After  his  leaving  public  life,  it  became  much  more  easy  for  Mr. 
Gladstone  to  spend  time  with  his  correspondence,  and  to  make  play  of 
literary  work.  But  he  has  known  so  well  the  use  of  time  in  all  his  life, 
that  he  has  been  exceedingly  productive  as  a  letter  writer,  and  many 
volumes  attest  the  delight  of  his  studies  in  the  form  of  essays.  As  an 
example  of  his  use  of  time,  Mr.  Lucy,  writing,  in  1882,  tells  us: 


GLADSTONE  THE  MAN.  361 

"One  night  last  session,  when  the  Irish  members  were  in  high  spirits, 
and  were  leading  the  high  court  of  Parliament  through  a  continuous 
series  of  perambulations  round  the  division  lobby,  Mr.  Gladstone  got 
through  an  immense  amount  of  correspondence.  He  wrote  on  his  knee 
whilst  seated  on  the  Treasury  Bench.  When  the  bell  rang  for  the  division 
he  went  on  writing  rapidly.  As  soon  as  the  Speaker  dispatched  'Ayes  to 
the  right'  and  'Noes  to  the  left,'  the  Premier  adroitly  sprang  up,  and  dis- 
playing the  agility  of  a  young  buck,  made  his  way  out  into  the  division 
lobby  before  the  crush  came.  In  recesses  of  the  lobby  there  are  providen- 
tially set  forth  writing-tables,  and  here,  whilst  the  throng  of  members 
pressed  forward,  the  Premier  sat,  taking  up  the  thread  of  his  discourse, 
and  writing  as  if  the  immediate  object  of  his  life  was  to  earn  the  tenpence 
an  hour  doled  out  to  the  minions  of  the  Foreign  Office.  As  soon  as  the 
last  member  approached  the  wicket,  Mr.  Gladstone  rose,  passed  through, 
resumed  his  seat  on  the  Treasury  Bench,  and  went  on  writing  as  before, 
going  through  the  process  with  undiminished  energy  as  often  as  it  pleased 
the  obstructionists  to  trot  out  the  Saxon  Parliament  through  the  lobbies. 
In  these  circumstances,  when  the  House  is  unequally  divided,  a  minority 
of  ten  or  a  dozen  going  into  one  lobby  and  a  majority  of  two  or  three  hun- 
dred into  the  other,  a  division  occupies  at  least  a  quarter  of  an  hour.  But 
Mr.  Gladstone  had  saved  every  moment  except  those  occupied  in  rapidly 
walking  over  the  uncrowded  course." 

It  is  supposed  that  once  Gladstone  found  himself  giving  too  much 
time  to  old  china,  and  in  1874  the  excellent  collection  was  sold.  Of  its 
rarity  and  value  one  may  have  some  idea,  if  he  has  made  studies  of  the 
fragment  of  the  collection  of  ivories  and  antique  jewels  exhibited  at 
the  South  Kensington  Museum  and  the  cabinets  still  containing  count- 
less objects  of  interest  in  Hawarden  Castle. 

In  1895  Mr.  Gladstone  sent  a  note  to  one  of  his  friends  containing 
this  passage:  "Above  all  present  purposes,  indicate  the  right  of  the 
House  of  Commons  as  the  organ  of  the  nation;  and  re-establish  the 
honor  of  England,  as  well  as  consolidate  the  strength  of  the  Empire  by 
conceding  the  great  and  institutional  claims  of  Ireland."  This  was 
signed  and  sent  July  5th.  It  furnished  evidence  that  the  Grand  Old  Man 
still  had  a  program,  even  if  others  were  to  carry  it  out.  He  dipped  into 
theology  at  this  period  with  even  more  than  his  wonted  interest,  and 
he  wrote  articles  for  the  reviews,  oftentimes  eclipsing  his  former  studies 


362  GLADSTONE:    A  BIOGRAPHICAL  STUDY. 

by  the  brilliancy  of  his  style  and  the  affluence  of  his  learning.  The  great 
world  which  he  had  taught  and  in  which  he  had  acted  for  so  long  a  time, 
he  could  not  wholly  forsake,  and,  up  to  a  recent  date,  if  one  was  fortunate 
enough  to  find  him  at  Biarritz,  or  in  the  Riviera,  he  was  sure  to  see 
Gladstone  amidst  publicists,  diplomatists,  statesmen,  literary  men,  artists 
of  other  countries,  leading  the  conversation  and  surpassing  any  or  all 
by  the  interest  of  his  remarks.  He  was  constantly  turning  to  his  old 
authors  and  finding  his  early  love  well  placed.  His  treatment  of  the 
author  of  the  "Analogy  of  Natural  and  Revealed  Religion"  is  a  tardy 
piece  of  justice  which  came  at  last  to  the  great  Bishop  of  Durham,  and  is 
a  witness  of  Gladstone's  piety,  thorough  scholarship,  and  conscientious 
industry.  He  delighted  himself  and  his  readers  with  graceful  and  in- 
cisive studies  of  Sheridan  and  the  English  poets.  But  his  deeper  thought 
ran  toward. the  great  subject  of  the  unity  of  Christendom. 

The  present  occupant  of  the  Papal  chair  has,  by  his  piety,  learning, 
and  philanthropy,  endeared  himself  to  all  Christians  throughout  the 
world,  and  it  was  impossible  that  the  letter  which  the  Pope  addressed 
to  the  English  people  should  not  produce  a  great  impression  upon  the 
public  mind.  It  furnished  evidence  that  Leo  XIII.  deeply  desired  the 
unity  of  Christ's  flock  in  the  world.  Gladstone  had  for  a  long  time  been 
in  correspondence  with  the  old  Catholics,  so-called,  and  with  men  who 
stood  in  the  position  occupied  by  Dr.  Dollinger  and  Cardinal  Manning, 
and  he  was  sincerely  interested  in  bringing  about  a  union  of  the  dis- 
severed ranks  of  Christianity  into  one  great  army  of  the  Lord.  It  is 
doubtful  if  Gladstone  would  have  done  much  to  please  the  Dissenters, 
although  without  the  Dissenters  in  England  we  could  hardly  conceive  of 
Gladstone's  having  won  some  of  his  greatest  victories  for  righteousness. 
The  discussion  turned  upon  the  point  of  the  validity  of  orders  in  the 
English  Established  Church.  Gladstone's  letter  was  worthy  of  his  truly 
comprehensive  and  profoundly  irenic  intellect.  He  acknowledged  his 
joy  in  noting  "the  progressive  advance  of  a  great  work  of  restoration 
in  Christian  doctrine."  He  was  glad  that  it  was  not  confined  to  his 
own  communion.  He  had  faith  in  the  future  of  the  English  Church,  but 
he  indicated  that  if  the  Catholic  Church  might  agree  that  the  Anglican 


GLADSTONE  THE  MAN.  363 

ordinations  are  valid,  a  mighty  step  forward  would  be  taken  toward 
Church  unity. 

Of  course  this  has  no  surpassing  interest  to  many  Americans,  but  it 
must  ever  be  remembered  as  one  of  the  consummate  flowers  in  a  garden 
glorious  with  eventide. 

All  England  united  at  last  to  do  honor  to  the  Grand  Old  Man,  and 
nothing  was  more  beautiful  than  the  speech  of  the  Prince  of  Wales 
when,  as  Chancellor  of  the  University,  he  spoke  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Glad- 
stone, upon  the  former  of  whom  he  had  just  conferred  an  honor. 

"You  will  all  join  with  me,"  the  Prince  said,  "I  am  sure,  in  thanking 
the  veteran  statesman  and  eminent  scholar,  Mr.  Gladstone,  who,  not- 
withstanding his  advanced  age,  has  undertaken  a  journey,  necessarily 
fatiguing,  in  order  to  pay  a  compliment  to  the  University  of  Wales  and 
to  myself  as  its  Chancellor.  I  may  truly  say  that  one  of  the  proudest 
moments  of  my  life  was  when  I  found  myself  in  the  flattering  position 
of  being  able  to  confer  an  academic  distinction  upon  Mr.  Gladstone, 
who  furnishes  a  rare  instance  of  a  man  who  has  achieved  one  of  the  high- 
est positions  as  a  statesman  and  at  the  same  time  has  attained  such  dis- 
tinction in  the  domain  of  literature  and  scholarship.  His  translation  of 
the  Odes  of  Horace  would  alone  constitute  a  lasting  monument  to  him 
even,  had  he  not  accomplished  so  much  besides  which  has  rendered  him 
illustrious.  Nor  do  we  extend  a  less  warm  welcome  to  Mr.  Gladstone's 
ever  faithful  companion  and  helper  during  the  many  years  of  his  busy 
life." 

Nothing  was  more  characteristic  of  Mr.  Gladstone  than  that  the 
powers  in  him  which  responded  to  the  cry  of  Bulgaria  should  respond 
quickly  to  the  equally  pathetic  cry  of  Armenia,  or  the  weaker  plea  of 
Crete.  No  picture  of  the  Grand  Old  Man  is  more  interesting  than  that 
which  he  left  upon  the  mind  of  the  realm  when  he  stood  in  his  own 
birthplace,  Liverpool,  and  made  such  an  appeal  as  reached  the  fortress 
of  the  Oriental  assassin,  whose  cruelty  amazed  the  intelligence  of 
Europe.  Gladstone  saw  the  terrible  fact  that  the  brutality  of  the  Turk 
had  set  itself  to  the  extinction  of  Christianity,  and  to  the  overturning  of 
any  rights  which  the  Armenian  subjects  of  the  Sultan  might  have 
acquired.  Gladstone  knew  that  there  was  little  which  England  might 


364  GLADSTONE:    A   BIOGRAPHICAL  STUDY. 

yet  do,  in  comparison  with  what  England  ought  to  have  done  at  an 
earlier  date,  but  that  little  was  much,  and  he  said:  "That  coercion, 
which  ought  long  ago  to  have  been  applied  to  him  (the  Sultan)  might 
even  now  be  the  means  of  averting  another  series  of  massacres,  possibly 
even  exceeding  those  which  we  have  already  seen."  Gladstone,  the 
man  of  peace,  had  uttered  the  word  which  for  the  moment  meant  war, 
if  necessary,  and  Lord  Rosebery,  with  his  party  in  a  small  minority,  had 
found  an  opportunity  for  retiring  from  the  leadership  of  the  Liberal 
party. 

But  Gladstone's  Liverpool  speech  was  only  one  of  many  on  the  same 
subject,  and  bis  pen  was  as  mighty  as  ever  it  had  been  in  denouncing 
Bulgarian  atrocities.  He  wrote  in  the  "Nineteenth  Century"  and  else- 
where, and  the  Sultan  was  pressed  closely  by  public  opinion  in  Eng- 
land, roused  and  heated  by  Mr.  Gladstone  to  the  point  of  making  such 
demands  as  would  satisfy  the  conscience  of  civilization.  He  proposed 
that  England,  on  her  own  responsibility,  should  do  righteousness. 
When  it  was  suggested  that  England  should  listen  to  the  siren  voices, 
Gladstone  said: 

"However  we  may  desire  and  strive  to  obtain  the  co-operation  of  others, 
is  it  possible  for  us  to  lay  down  this  doctrine:  England  may  give  for  her- 
self the  most  solemn  pledges  in  the  most  binding  shape,  but  she  now  claims 
the  right  of  referring  it  to  some  other  person  or  persons,  State  or  States, 
not  consulted  or  concerned  in  her  act,  to  determine  whether  she  shall  en- 
deavor to  the  utmost  of  her  ability  to  fulfill  them? 

"If  this  doctrine  is  really  to  be  adopted,  I  would  respectfully  propose 
that  the  old  word  'honor'  should  be  effaced  from  our  dictionaries,  and 
dropped  from  our  language." 

The  very  presence  of  Gladstone  in  England,  laying  bare  the  peril 
of  Christian  civilization  in  the  Orient,  and  pleading  with  intelligence 
and  earnestness  for  humanity,  is  a  fact  never  to  be  forgotten,  even  in  the 
reign  of  that  sordid  materialism  which  answered  it  not. 

Never  was  there  a  moment  in  Gladstone's  career  when  a  halting 
policy  and  vested  interests  chafed  in  Lombard  Street,  on  the  Exchange, 
and  more  sympathetically  uttered  the  old  criticism  of  Lord  Aberdeen: 
"He  is  too  obstinate.  If  a  man  could  be  too  honest,  I  should  say  he 


GLADSTONE  THE  MAN.  365 

is  too  honest.  He  does  not  think  enough  of  what  other  men  think. 
When  he  has  convinced  himself,  perhaps  by  abstract  reasoning,  of  some 
view,  he  thinks  everyone  else  ought  to  see  it  as  he  does,  and  can  make 
no  allowances  for  difference  of  opinion."  There  is  really  nothing  so 
stubborn  or  impractical,  in  the  eyes  of  a  politician,  as  the  unbending 
convictions  of  a  statesman. 

Gladstone  at  this  moment  was  a  sick  man,  and  his  physician  was 
urging  him  to  avoid  labor,  and  especially  to  keep  out  of  unnecessary 
controversy.  But  his  physician  labored  in  vain.  He  said : 

"Here  is  a  man  who,  at  the  very  end  of  a  long  life  honorably  spent  in 
the  service  of  his  country,  in  possession  of  everything  a  mortal  can 
desire,  risks  fame,  position,  the  love,  nay,  the  esteem,  of  his  country  and 
his  Sovereign — everything,  in  fact,  worth  living  for, — in  order  to  carry  out 
what  he  is  profoundly  convinced  to  be  right.  And  how  that  man  is  vilified! 
But  mark  my  word,  no  man  will  be  more  regretted  or  extolled  when  he  is 
gone." 

Always  from  these  turbulent  scenes  Mr.  Gladstone  had  gone  into  the 
peace  and  defense  of  Hawarden  Castle.  Ten  years  before  his  death, 
the  fiftieth  anniversary  of  his  marriage  with  Miss  Glynne  had  been  cele- 
brated; and  the  last  ten  years  of  his  life,  closing  as  they  did  in  that 
remarkably  tender  and  almost  thrilling  farewell  when  death  came,  were 
the  answer  to  his  prayer  that  he  might  spend  the  tranquil  eventide  and 
close  the  day  of  his  life  at  Hawarden.  Here  he  had  loved  and  shared 
his  life  with  the  mate  of  his  soul;  here  he  had  seen  his  children  reared  to 
manhood  and  womanhood,  or  from  the  little  church  yonder  he  had  fol- 
lowed them  to  the  grave.  From  the  time  they  had  bade  farewell  to  the 
little  girl,  early  in  the  fifties,  to  the  time  when  the  old  man  followed  to 
the  grave  the  son  upon  whom  he  most  leaned  as  his  friend  and  helper, 
the  lights  and  shadows  of  life  had  mingled  most  significantly  here. 
Here  he  had  talked  with  Tennyson  and  Browning,  with  Ruskin  and 
Dean  Stanley,  and  from  this  library  he  had  sent  forth  his  views  in 
controversy  with  the  redoubtable  antagonists  of  the  Christian  faith  in 
every  country.  Out  of  this  library  had  gone  his  words  of  fine  optimism 
in  his  reply  to  Alfred  Tennyson's  "Locksley  Hall  Sixty  Years  After- 
ward," and  it  was  but  a  specimen  of  that  music  which  he  sounded  from 


366  GLADSTONE:    A   BIOGRAPHICAL  STUDY. 

the  high  moral  and  mental  point  of  view  he  had  in  his  own  home.  He 
said,  speaking  of  the  attitude  of  a  thoughtful  man  toward  the  past  and 
the  future: 

"Each  generation  or  age  of  men  is  under  a  twofold  temptation:  the 
one  to  overrate  its  own  performances  and  prospects,  the  other  to  under- 
value the  times  preceding  or  following  its  own.  No  greater  calamity  can 
happen  to  a  people  than  to  break  utterly  with  its  Past.  But  the  proposition 
in  its  full  breadth  applies  more  to  its  aggregate,  than  to  its  immediate  Past. 
Our  judgment  on  the  age  that  last  preceded  us  should  be  strictly  just.  But 
it  should  be  masculine,  not  timorous;  for,  if  we  gild  its  defects,  and  glorify 
its  errors,  we  dislocate  the  axis  of  the  very  ground  which  forms  our  own 
point  of  departure." 

Nothing  is  more  charactertistic  of  Mr.  Gladstone's  old  age  than  the 
fountain  of  perpetual  youth  bubbling  up  its  liquid  jewels  of  thought 
from  the  very  secrets  of  his  soul.  Other  men  might  be  delighted  to  see 
a  country  with  an  income  so  much  more  vast  than  its  expenditures  as 
to  astonish  the  world;  Gladstone  knew  that  there  is  another  basis  for 
true  national  prosperity,  and  when  he  went  to  Wales  to  speak,  he  said: 

"A  country  is  in  a  good  and  sound  and  healthy  state  when  it  exhibits 
the  spirit  of  progress  in  all  its  institutions  and  in  all  its  operations;  and  when 
with  that  spirit  of  progress  it  combines  the  spirit  of  affectionate  retrospect 
upon  the  times  and  the  generations  that  have  gone  before,  and  the  deter- 
mination to  husband  and  to  turn  at  every  point  to  the  best  account  all  that 
these  previous  generations  have  accumulated  of  what  is  good  and  worthy 
for  the  benefit  of  us,  their  children." 

Such  persistent  vitality  of  thought  was  associated  in  Gladstone  with 
a  charm  of  manner  and  a  reality  of  faith  so  comprehensive  as  to  gather 
into  its  friendship  some  of  those  who  had  been  most  strongly  antagonis- 
tic to  him  in  other  years.  No  one,  for  example,  paid  a  more  touching 
tribute  to  Gladstone  after  his  life  had  closed,  than  Mr.  Balfour,  leader 
of  the  Tory  Government,  who,  rising  from  a  bed  of  sickness,  sought 
to  do  himself  and  his  party  the  honor  (for  he  could  add  nothing  to  the 
laurels  of  Gladstone)  of  placing  upon  record  his  opinion  of  that  great 
man.  Lord  Salisbury's  address  alone,  in  which  he  made  special  men- 
tion of  the  fact  that  Gladstone  must  be  known  as  the  incarnation  of 


GLADSTONE  THE  MAN.  167 

Christian  statesmanship,  equaled  the  address  of  Balfour,  and  it  eclipsed, 
by  its  radiance  of  affectionate  regard,  all  the  flashings  of  the  swords  in 
years  agone.  It  all  reminded  one  that,  after  all,  there  was  in  Gladstone 
something  far  greater  than  what  any  difference  of  opinion  could  pos- 
sibly effect. 

Once  John  Ruskin,  who  had  been  visiting  at  Windsor,  was  per- 
suaded to  go  to  Hawarden,  and  Ruskin  used  to  say  of  his  Toryism  that 
it  was  firm  and  implacable.  No  man  in  England  had  furnished  such 
bitter  pages  with  reference  to  Gladstone  as  had  Ruskin.  But  they  met 
and  loved  each  other.  The  history  of  human  apologies  is  not  complete 
without  that  page  from  "Fors  Clavigera,"  in  which  Ruskin  chronicles 
the  fact  that  he  had  completely  misconceived  Gladstone.  When  the 
time  for  the  reprinting  of  the  old  magazine  came,  Ruskin  would  not 
permit  the  passage  in  which  he  had  scored  Mr.  Gladstone,  to  reappear, 
but  in  the  blank  space  he  left  a  little  note,  calling  it  "A  Memorial  of 
Rash  Judgment." 

Gladstone  himself  once  quoted  Browning's  "Sordello"  to  this  effect: 

"Upgathered  on  himself  the  fighter  stood 
For  his  last  fight,  and  wiping  treacherous  blood 
Out  of  his  eyelids,  just  held  ope  beneath 
Those  shading  fingers  in  their  iron  sheath, 
Steadied  his  strength  amid  the  shock  and  stir 
Of  the  dusk  hideous  atmosphere." 

And  the  aged  man,  always  desiring  the  love  of  the  best  of  men,  re- 
marked half  sadly  as  he  brightened  with  hope:  "I  know  I  have  appeared 
like  unto  that;  but  'time  is  on  our  side/  and  I  will  be  understood  fully 
perhaps  before  my  career  ends  here." 


CHAPTER  XLIII. 
AT  EVENTIDE. 

One  of  Gladstone's  earlier  biographers  has  told  us  a  story  that,  at 
one  time,  in  the  history  of  that  home  where  argumentation  was  as  much 
a  staple  of  its  life  as  religion  was,  the  young  William  Gladstone  and 
his  sister  Mary  were  disputing  as  to  the  proper  place  on  the  wall  for  a 
picture  loved  by  both  of  them.  The  old  Scotch  servant,  standing  upon 
the  ladder,  was  useless,  but  interested  in  the  discussion,  while  the  two 
argued  about  the  momentous  matter.  William  was  chivalrous,  and 
Mary  was  possibly  weary,  but  certainly  she  did  not  yield,  until  the 
brother  paused  and  the  contest  was  ended  without  convincing  him. 
The  servant  was  directed  to  hang  the  picture  as  Mary  desired,  but  he 
knew  young  William,  and  that  his  power  of  argument  was  unexhausted. 
Possibly  he  knew,  also,  that  William  was  right.  At  any  rate,  he  went 
across  the  room  and  drove  a  nail  in  the  place  William  had  suggested. 
When  questioned  as  to  his  reason  for  this  course  of  action,  he  said: 
"Awell,  miss,  that  will  do  to  hang  the  picture  on  when  ye'll  have  to  come 
round  to  Master  Willie's  opeenion." 

The  fact  is  that  the  spirit  of  human  progress  has  heard  with  no  little 
interest  the  contention  which  William  Ewart  Gladstone  has  urged,  and 
the  argument  which  he  has  used  against  what  is  perhaps  least  objection- 
ably characterized  as  fear,  ignorance  and  political  bigotry.  He  has 
seemed  to  be  the  Great  Defeated,  and  he  certainly  closed  his  life,  after 
England's  voice  had  joined  in  the  chorus  of  praise  for  his  earlier  achieve- 
ments, with  the  great  desire  of  his  heart  unaccomplished  in  the  form 
of  legislation.  This  spirit  of  progress  has  been  patient  and  yet  far-see- 
ing. After  Toryism  has  hung  its  picture  as  it  pleased,  there  has  been  a 
nail  hammered  into  the  opposite  wall,  and  when  Conservatism  objects, 
the  spirit  of  progress  may  say,  with  the  old  Scotch  servant :  "Awell,  that 

368 


AT  EVENTIDE.  369 

will  do  to  hang  the  picture  on  when  ye'll  have  to  come  round  to  Master 
Willie's  opeenion." 

The  moral  influence  of  such  a  man  as  Mr.  Gladstone  rose  far  above 
any  anticipation  his  youth  suggested,  in  the  range  and  quality  of  its 
achievements.  In  November,  1844,  Lord  Malmesbury  wrote  in  his 
journal: 

"November  7th :  Dined  with  the  Cannings  and  met  Mr.  Gladstone  and 
Mr.  Phillimore.  We  were  curious  to  see  the  former,  as  he  is  a  man 
who  is  much  spoken  of  as  one  who  will  come  to  the  front.  We  were  dis- 
appointed at  his  appearance,  which  is  that  of  a  Roman  Catholic  ecclesiastic, 
but  he  is  very  agreeable." 

The  priesthood  of  such  a  spirit  has  been  more  than  any 'church  could 
hold  or  any  condition  of  politics  could  control.  His  effect  upon  public 
morals,  as  these  were  to  be  performed  by  a  nobler  Christian  ministry, 
has  been  immeasurable.  He  himself  said: 

"It  was,  I  think,  about  the  year  1835,  that  I  first  met  the  Rev.  Sydney 
Smith,  at  the  house  of  Mr.  Hallam.  In  conversation  after  dinner  he  said 
to  me,  with  the  double  charm  of  humor  and  good  humor,  The  improvement 
of  the  clergy  in  my  time  has  been  astonishing.  Whenever  you  meet  a  clergy- 
man of  my  age,  you  may  be  quite  sure  he  is  a  bad  clergyman.'  " 

No  man  has  done  more  to  create  and  re-create  the  clergy  of  Anglo- 
Saxon  Christendom  than  has  Gladstone.  A  soul  with  less  glorious  light 
shining  out  from  its  windows,  and  undertaking  such  tasks  as  he  did  in 
Ireland  and  in  England,  with  rough  peasants  and  useless  ecclesiastics, 
would  have  seemed  ludicrously  incompetent.  It  was  his  moral  strength 
which  confounded  his  foes.  The  Ireland  he  attempted  to  deal  with 
would  have  offered  a  complete  resistance  to  merely  intellectual  power. 

Sidney  Smith  was  humorous  and  accurate  as  to  the  spirit  of  things 
when  he  described  "those  Irish  Protestants  whose  shutters  are  bullet- 
proof; whose  dinner-table  is  regularly  spread  out  with  knife,  fork,  and 
cocked  pistol,  salt-cellar  and  powder  flask;  who  sleep  in  sheet-iron 
night-caps;  who  have  fought  so  often  before  their  scullery-door,  and 
defended  the  parlor  passage  as  bravely  as  Leonidas  defended  the  pass  of 

Thermopylae." 
24 


370  GLADSTONE:    A  BIOGRAPHICAL  STUDY. 

If  ever  this  Ireland  has  been  made  reasonable,  it  has  been  by  a  man 
who,  horrifying  Protestantism  on  the  one  hand  by  his  insistence  that 
Catholics  should  be  fairly  treated,  and  making  Catholics  indignant,  on 
the  other  hand,  by  his  searching  criticism  of  the  Vatican,  could  splen- 
didly fling  out  over  all  the  discussion,  the  illumination  of  a  moral  genius. 
This  spiritual  element  abided  like  a  twilight  from  another  world,  and  in 
it  no  man  could  seriously  deny  the  sovereignty  of  celestial  elements. 

That  Mr.  Gladstone  was  boundlessly  charitable,  and  therefore  strin- 
gently economical  in  the  expenditures  of  himself  and  his  family,  is 
attested  by  thousands  of  causes  he  relieved,  once  even  going  so  far  as 
to  sell  a  portion  of  his  library,  and  cease  gathering  rare  specimens  of 
old  china.  That  Mr.  Gladstone  exercised  the  height  of  an  energetic  ora- 
tory and  thus  controlled  men  who  were  opposed  to  him  in  political 
opinion,  is  instanced  a  hundred  times  by  his  Parliamentary  achieve- 
ments. That  an  intellectual  splendor,  gorgeous  if  never  dry,  diffused 
itself  by  the  processes  of  reflection  and  refraction  in  countless  streams 
of  fascinating  influence,  is  demonstrated  in  review  articles,  almost  with- 
out number,  in  orations  which  have  already  taken  their  place  with  the 
eloquent  utterances  of  Burke  and  Chatham,  and  in  discussions  of  liter- 
ary problems  as  comprehensive  and  keen  as  any  written  in  his  time.  But 
all  of  these  are  greater  by  the  fact  that  they  were  associated  with  and 
partly  derived  from  a  spiritual  energy,  the  like  of  which  has  not  mani- 
fested itself  in  another  personality  in  our  century.  Mr.  O'Connor  Power 
furnishes  us  with  a  single  incident  of  its  influence.  He  says: 

"The  division  lobby  is  often  one  of  the  most  interesting  sights  of  the 
House  of  Commons.  There  are  huddled  together  for  a  brief  space  all  the 
strange  and  varied  personalities  of  the  House.  Even  in  the  lobby,  however, 
the  great  personality  of  Mr.  Gladstone  stands  out.  It  is  his  usual  custom 
to  rush  to  one  of  the  writing  tables,  and,  after  his  fashion,  on  which  the 
grand  symmetry  and  orderliness  of  his  great  life  have  been  planned  and 
relentlessly  pursued,  he  will  not  wholly  lose  even  the  brief  space  of  time 
which  is  there  expended.  Accordingly  he  is  to  be  seen  writing  away  for  dear 
life — sometimes  holding  the  blotting-pad  on  his  knees  when  he  goes  back 
to  the  House,  and  often  calmly  pursuing  his  work  amid  the  shouts  of  hatred 
or  triumph  around  him. 

"But  on  Tuesday  night,  for  a  moment,  he  allowed  the  natural  man 


AT  EVENTIDE.  371 

to  conquer.  Selecting  a  seat  in  a  quiet  corner,  he  fell  into  a  brief,  hurried, 
but  profound  slumber,  and  was  lost  to  the  world  of  teeming  and  shouting 
life  around  him.  The  pallid  look  on  the  face  told  of  the  fatigue  of  the  day, 
but  the  splendid  mouth,  firm  set,  was  there — with  that  look  of  unalterable 
determination  which  conquers  all  things.  It  was  a  beautiful  and  impressive 
picture,  and,  by  a  quick  and  electric  communicativeness,  all  its  pathos  and 
splendor  and  historic  significance  were  gathered  by  the  crowd.  The  usual 
noise  of  the  lobby  was  stilled.  Silently,  reverently,  members  paused  for  a 
moment  as  they  went  by,  whispered  a  comment  in  low  accents,  and  passed 
on  with  hearts  stirred  silently,  but  profoundly,  to  reverence,  awe,  love." 

As  he  came  toward  the  end  of  his  life,  this  moral  power  enabled  him 
to  clearly  understand,  as  he  could  not  understand  in  earlier  days,  the 
moral  importance  of  such  an  experiment  as  our  own  in  self-govern- 
ment. Dry  as  the  subject  might  appear,  the  moral  power  shone  over 
it  all.  In  the  autumn  of  1889,  in  a  speech  delivered  at  the  opening  of 
new  reading  and  recreation  rooms  at  Saltney,  Gladstone  indicates  how 
much  he  had  learned  from  America.  He  said: 

"My  last  recommendation  to  the  student  is  one  I  have  been  in  the 
habit  of  making  for  the  last  fifty  years,  because  I  then  adopted  the  senti- 
ments upon  which  it  is  founded,  and  I  now  make  it  therefore  with  greater 
confidence  after  the  lapse  of  fifty  years.  That  recommendation  is,  to  those 
who  are  able  to  carry  it  out,  to  study  the  history  of  the  American  Revolution. 
That  is  an  extraordinary  history.  It  is  highly  honorable  to  those  who 
brought  that  revolution  about ;  but  also  honorable  in  no  insignificant  degree 
to  this  country,  because  it  was  by  this  country  that  the  seeds  of  freedom  were 
sown  in  America,  because  it  was  by  imitating  this  country  that  America 
acquired  the  habits  of  freedom,  and  the  capacity  for  more  freedom.  In  this 
country  we  have  happily  had  to  a  great  extent,  and  I  hope  we  shall  have  it 
still  more,  what  is  called  local  self-government — not  merely  one  govern- 
ment at  a  certain  point,  composed  of  parties  and  exerting  a  vast  power  over 
their  fellow-citizens,  but  a  system  under  which  the  duties  of  government 
are  distributed  according  to  the  capacities  of  the  different  divisions  of  the 
country,  and  the  different  classes  of  the  people  who  perform  them,  in  such 
a  way  that  government  should  be  practiced,  not  only  in  the  metropolis,  but 
in  every  country,  in  every  borough,  over  every  district,  and  in  every  parish. 
And  that  has  tended  to  bring  home  to  the  mind  of  every  father  of  a  family, 
a  sense  of  the  public  duty  which  he  is  called  upon  to  perform.  That  has 
been  the  secret  of  the  strength  of  America.  The  colonial  system  in  which 
America  was  reared  was  in  the  main  a  free  colonial  system.  You  had  in 


372  GLADSTONE:    A   BIOGRAPHICAL  STUDY. 

America  these  two  things  combined:  the  love  of  freedom  and  respect  for 
law,  and  a  desire  for  the  maintenance  of  order;  and  where  you  find  these 
two  things  combined,  love  of  freedom  together  with  respect  for  law,  and 
the  desire  for  order,  you  have  the  elements  of  national  excellence  and 
national  greatness." 

At  the  Victoria  Art  Gallery,  in  Dundee,  he  indulged  in  quite  dif- 
ferent considerations,  which,  however,  have  been  equally  impressive  to 
him.  He  said:  ^ 

"Beauty  is  an  element  of  immense  pecuniary  value.  The  traditional 
cultivation  of  taste  and  production  of  beauty  in  industrial  objects,  is  better 
known  in  Italy,  and  very  well  known  in  France.  We  may  still  be  some 
steps  behind  in  many  departments  in  that  respect,  but  there  is  not  a  doubt 
that  in  the  enormous  commerce  of  France,  the  beauty  of  the  objects  pro- 
duced counts  from  year  to  year  for  a  great  many  millions  sterling,  and 
those  millions  sterling  would  fade  into  thin  air,  were  the  appreciation  of 
beauty  and  the  power  of  producing  beautiful  objects  to  be  taken  away, 
which,  happily,  it  hardly  can  from  such  a  people.  It  is  an  element  of  im- 
mense commercial  value.  Let  us  look  abroad — let  us  take  our  lessons  from 
nature,  for,  after  all,  we  cannot  go  to  a  better  source,  or  as  good  a  source, 
as  to  the  works  of  God.  The  Almighty  has  provided  this  earth  with  the 
beautiful,  and  has  made  the  beauty  of  the  land  in  which  we  are  appointed 
to  be  born,  and  in  which  we  live,  an  important  instrument  in  stirring  up  in 
us  and  for  confirming  in  us  that  devoted  attachment  to  our  country,  whidh, 
I  hope — under  the  name  of  patriotism  or  whatever  other  name — which,  I 
believe,  always  has  been  a  pointed  characteristic  of  individuals,  and  which, 
I  trust,  always  will  be  a  marked  and  pointed  characteristic  of  those  who  will 
succeed  them  in  following  generations.  The  Almighty  has  given  us  a  lesson 
in  this  respect  in  making  His  works  beautiful,  showing  that  He  suggests 
to  us  to  make  our  works  beautiful,  humbly  and  reverently,  but  yet  believing 
that  if  in  every  department  of  life  we  are  following  that  example  He  will 
regard  it  with  favor,  and  crown  it  with  His  blessing." 

What  he  said  of  Bright  when  that  life  closed,  may  be  said  in  a  still 
higher  way,  of  himself: 

"Thus  it  has  come  about  that  he  is  entitled  to  a  higher  eulogy  than  is 
due  to  success.  Of  mere  success,  indeed,  he  was  a  conspicuous  example. 
In  intellect  he  might  claim  a  most  distinguished  place.  But  his  character 
lies  deeper  than  intellect,  deeper  than  eloquence,  deeper  than  anything  that 


AT  EVENTIDE.  373 

can  be  described  or  that  can  be  seen  upon  the  surface.  The  supreme  eulogy 
that  is  his  due  is  that  he  elevated  political  life  to  the  highest  point — to  a 
loftier  standard  than  it  has  ever  reached.  He  has  bequeathed  to  his  country 
a  character  that  cannot  only  be  made  a  subject  for  admiration  and  gratitude, 
but — and  I  do  not  exaggerate  when  I  say  it — that  can  become  an  object  of 
reverential  contemplation." 

Out  from  the  narrowing  atmosphere  of  his  individuality  he  looked, 
and  gave  that  atmosphere  every  wind  of  heaven,  as  he  opened  great  sub- 
jects under  the  light  of  this  moral  faculty.  No  doubt  he  was  deeply 
disappointed  in  the  attitude  of  the  Irish  people  toward  himself  at  various 
times,  and  toward  the  cause  to  which  he  gave  the  best  and  truest  devo- 
tion of  his  life.  More  heroically  than  in  any  difficulty  with  English 
opinion,  did  Gladstone  pursue  his  path  with  the  unfortunate  divisions, 
and  oftentimes  unrelenting  criticism  of  the  Irish  people  themselves.  The 
present  writer  remembers  hearing  him,  after  he  had  read  Mr.  Barry 
O'Brien's  article  on  "Irish  Wrongs  and  English  Remedies,"  rehearse  the 
story  there  told,  and  every  word  of  Gladstone's  indicated  that  his  faith 
in  humanity  had  endured  much,  but  that  it  had  triumphed  over  all.  He 
felt  that  he  had  the  right  to  the  confidence  and  loyalty  of  the  Irish 
people.  It  was  a  well-known  saying  of  a  great  political  philosopher 
that  his  achievement  in  1869,  his  carrying  through  Parliament  his 
measure  of  disestablishment,  marked  for  English  legislation  the  "only 
complete  measure  of  justice  passed  for  Ireland  since  Catholic  emancipa- 
tion." But  it  was  not  to  be  wondered  at  that  Ireland  distrusted  Eng- 
land's disposition  and  ability  to  do  anything  to  remedy  wrongs  which 
had  been  visited  upon  her,  and  which  had  produced  chronic  irritation. 
Englishmen,  on  the  other  hand,  saw  how  nearly  impossible  it  was  to 
conciliate  a  people  who  believed  that  they  had  suffered  centuries  of 
humiliation  and  outrage,  with  now  and  then  a  year  or  so  of  kindness 
and  an  act  of  brotherly  love.  It  had  all  been  described  in  the  phrase 
which  was  applied  to  English  rule  in  Ireland — "an  alternation  of  kicks 
and  kindness,  kicks  freely  given  and  kindness  grudgingly  bestowed" — 
and  a  phrase  like  this  has  a  marvelous  power  for  traveling  from  cottage 
to  cottage  in  a  land  like  Ireland.  In  Gladstone's  time  ignorant  Catho- 
lics had  been  kept  ignorant,  because  they  would  not  conform  to  the 


374  GLADSTONE:    A   BIOGRAPHICAL  STUDY. 

stated  religion;  he  had  seen  that  policy  abandoned.  From  the  eight- 
eenth century  charter  schools,  which  existed  only  to  make  Protestants 
out  of  Catholics,  drew  their  financial  support  from  Parliament  at  the 
very  time  that  Parliament  declined  to  give  a  penny  for  the  support  of 
schools  which  would  have  reached  the  vast  majority  of  the  population; 
he  had  seen  National  schools  open  their  doors  to  Catholic  children, 
although  they  were  superintended  by  a  board  in  which  Protestants  ap- 
peared to  Catholics  as  four  to  two,  while  the  population  indicated  Catho- 
lics to  Protestants  as  ten  to  two.  To  make  this  less  pleasant  to  the 
Catholics,  a  Scotch  Presbyterian  clergyman  had  charge  of  it  all.  Their 
very  school  books  made  an  effort  to  crush  Irish  patriotism,  and  Mr. 
O'Brien  referred  to  the  fact  that  the  little  Irish  children  were  graciously 
permitted  to  sing  the  following  words : 

"I  thank  the  goodness  and  the  grace 

That  on  my  birth  have  smiled, 
And  made  me  in  these  Christian  days 
A  happy  English  child." 

In  1860  Gladstone  had  seen  this  happily  transformed.  The  year 
1832  came  and  went,  leaving  Ireland  and  O'Connell  utterly  dissatisfied 
with  Reform  measures,  and  Bright  himself  declared,  in  1860,  that  the 
representation  of  Ireland  in  Parliament  was  virtually  extinguished. 
Gladstone  saw  the  Irish  Reform  Bill  carried  through  in  1868,  and  the 
right  to  vote  given  in  Irish  boroughs  to  four-pound  rate  payers,  and  in 
1884  the  English  and  Irish  franchises  were  granted  alike  to  both  peoples. 
He  had  entered  public  life  at  a  time  when  Ireland  was  asking  for  the 
removal  of  tithes  to  support  a  church  in  which  Irishmen  had  no  religious 
interest,  and  when  they  objected  they  were  coerced  by  law  with  the  aid 
of  the  military  and  police,  who  had  come  to  collect  the  tithes.  He  had 
watched  Sir  Robert  Peel's  bill,  in  1835.  and  the  amendment  of  Lord 
John  Russell,  and  he  had  seen  the  amendment  overthrow  the  bill,  and 
"the  surplus  revenues  of  the  established  church  applied  to  the  purposes 
of  general  education  in  Ireland."  Up  to  1837  public  opinion  in  Eng- 
land had  given  only  such  concession  as  was  necessary  to  such  schemes 
of  coercion  as  its  military  force  could  apply.  In  spite  of  the  Irish  mem- 
1  ers,  the  Poor  Law  of  1838  had  been  carried,  and  it  was  put  into  opera- 


AT  EVENTIDE.  375 

tion,  as  the  Irish  expected,  by  Scotch  and  English  officers.  The  Irish 
Municipal  Reform  Act  of  1840  disenfranchised  the  municipalities.  Up 
to  1869,  a  Protestant  State  church  had  been  maintained  by  England, 
while  it  contained  800,000  communicants,  and  6,000,000  of  other  people 
were  unaided.  On  this  topic  the  Peel  government  of  1844  refused  to 
grant  an  inquiry.  In  1846  Lord  John  Russell  admitted  that  it  ought 
to  be  reformed,  but  that  the  church  must  not  be  disestablished.  In  1853 
the  same  statesman  announced  his  immovable  opinion.  Over  and  over 
the  refusal  was  made.  Disraeli's  government  in  1867  seemed  as  firm 
as  was  Peel's  government  in  1844,  refusing  to  grant  an  inquiry.  Then 
it  was  that  Gladstone  said  "the  time  is  not  far  distant  when  the  Parlia- 
ment of  England,  which  at  the  present  undoubtedly  has  its  hands  full  of 
most  important  business  and  engagements,  will  feel  it  its  duty  to  look 
this  question  fairly  and  openly  in  the  face."  In  1869  Gladstone  had  seen 
disestablishment  accomplished.  In  1842  the  Times  said: 

"The  tenant  in  Ireland  has  not  the  shadow  of  the  character  of  a  volun- 
tary contractor.  It  is  with  him  to  continue  on  the  quarter  of  an  acre  which 
he  occupies,  or  to  starve.  There  is  no  other  alternative.  Rack  rents  may  be 
misery,  but  ejectment  is  ruin.  And  yet  in  this  state  of  things  estates  are 
farmed  out  to  middlemen;  and  ejectments  are  then  brought,  because  the 
unhappy  tenant  is  behind  with  his  rent,  or,  what  is  still  worse,  upon  some 
trivial  breach  of  covenant,  merely  because  possession  would  be  convenient 
to  the  person  seeking  it.  What  has  been  the  result?  Conspiracy,  hatred, 
revenge,  and  murder — most  cold-blooded,  most  brutal  murder." 

And  in  1850  it  added: 

"Are  we  to  stand  by  with  folded  arms  (writing  after  the  murder  of  a 
land  agent  in  the  North  of  Ireland),  looking  on  in  mute  despair,  as  if  these 
events  were  an  inevitable  necessity — an  evil  beyond  the  reach  of  law  or 
public  opinion?  Surely  we  are  not  justified  in  adopting  such  a  listless 
course.  If  the  proprietors  of  the  soil,  in  maintaining  the  rights  which  the 
law  has  given  them,  thus  recklessly  inflict  misery  without  stint  upon  the 
helpless  and  unfortunate  peasantry;  if  they  say  that  without  the  perpetration 
of  barbarities  which  would  disgrace  a  Turkish  Pasha  their  rents  cannot 
be  collected;  if  they  are  to  bring  in  the  attorney  multiplying  process,  and 
with  process  multiplying  costs  and  reducing  the  peasantry  to  hopeless 
slavery;  and  if  they  are  thus  to  convert  the  country  into  a  battlefield  for  the 
landlords  and  process-servers,  and  sheriffs  and  sheriff  officers  on  the  one 
side,  and  the  furious  peasantry  and  banded  assassins  on  the  other — then 


376  GLADSTONE:    A  BIOGRAPHICAL  STUDY. 

we  say  it  is  the  bounden  duty  of  the  Legislature  to  interfere,  and  either  to 
enforce  upon  the  present  landlords  the  duties,  while  it  maintains  the  rights, 
of  property,  or  to  create  a  new  landed  proprietary,  whose  intelligence  and 
wealth  will  enable  them  to  secure  the  peace  of  society,  and  thus  lay  the 
foundation  of  national  prosperity." 

The  year  1852  came  with  a  new  spirit,  but  it  was  not  until  Gladstone 
introduced  his  bill  in  1870  that  the  cause  of  the  Irish  tenants  made  a 
substantial  gain.  It  is  true  that  in_  1835,  1841  and  1852,  Gladstone, 
having  learned  much  from  Thomas  Drummond,  kept  close  company 
with  Lord  Stanley,  afterwards  Earl  of  Derby,  on  this  subject.  Lord 
Palmerston  in  vain  tried  to  hold  back  the  current  of  popular  reform  in 
1865,  but  Gladstone  was  alert  and  ready  when  the  moment  came  and 
his  bill  achieved  "compulsory  compensation  for  improvements  effected 
against  the  will  of  the  landlord."  Swift  and  sure  was  the  progress  from 
1870  up  to  this  time,  and  now  Mr.  Gladstone  stood  with  the  phrase 
"Home  Rule"  quivering  still  upon  his  lips. 

Not  intellectual  energy,  but  moral  strength  alone,  kept  the  tribune 
of  an  often  recalcitrant  people  ever  faithful  to  their  cause,  because, 
whether  that  people  heard  or  forbore,  he  knew  the  cause  itself  was 
right. 


CHAPTER  XLIV. 
CONCLUSION. 

For  two  years,  according  to  Dr.  Dobie,  Mr.  Gladstone's  heart  had 
been  so  weak  as  to  be  liable  to  fail  suddenly;  yet  it  was  impossible  for 
a  man  of  Mr.  Gladstone's  out-of-door  habits  and  immense  vitality  to 
come  to  the  conclusion  that  he  was  a  dying  man.  He  took  a  trip  to 
Scotland,  and  wandered  over  the  heather,  braving  the  Scotch  rain  and 
mist,  and  enjoying  himself  thoroughly  with  his  friend  George  Armi- 
stead. 

Presently  there  developed  an  irritation  in  his  face  and  head  which 
robbed  him  of  all  sleep.  An  examination  of  the  distinguished  patient 
proved  that  the  mucous  membrane  had  swollen,  and  that  no  surgical 
operation  would  be  likely  to  relieve  Mr.  Gladstone.  He  obeyed  his 
physician  and  went  to  Cannes,  where  he  had  enjoyed  many  a  pleasant 
day  with  distinguished  foreigners  in  an  atmosphere  hitherto  most  bene- 
ficial to  him.  He  was  a  little  relieved,  and,  indeed,  resumed  his  old 
habits  of  reading,  which  earlier  he  had  been  compelled  to  give  up.  He 
turned  again  to  Sir  Walter  Scott,  and  read  his  works  with  the  keenest 
satisfaction.  All  the  new  books,  and  many  of  the  old  ones  on  theology 
were  packed  up  and  sent  to  him,  in  the  hope  that  his  health  might  so 
far  be  restored  as  to  enable  him  to  write  more  as  a  student  of  religion. 
Now  and  then  grave  symptoms  appeared,  and  the  physicians  and  Mrs. 
Gladstone  were  much  alarmed. 

It  was  thought  best  that  he  should  return  to  England,  and  he  passed 
a  few  weeks  at  Bournemouth,  where  he  endured  extreme  pain.  Now  his 
whole  desire  was  to  get  back  to  Hawarden  Castle.  He  had  been  kindly 
in  his  attentions  to  the  lowliest  of  his  tenants  in  the  hours  of  their 
suffering  and  sorrow,  and  the  atmosphere  of  the  beloved  shire,  in  which 
he  had  passed  so  much  of  his  life,  was  itself  a  welcome  to  the  dying 
man. 

377 


GLADSTONE:    A   BIOGRAPHICAL  STUDY. 

It  was  most  touching,  during  the  last  days  of  Mr.  Gladstone's  life, 
to  observe  the  extreme  tenderness  with  which  the  whole  population 
round  about  Hawarden  Castle  watched  the  progress  of  the  case  of  "the 
old  gentleman,"  as  they  called  him.  Representatives  of  families  whom 
he  had  visited  in  times  of  darkness  and  distress,  came  up  with  their 
simple  offering  of  profound  love,  and  left  the  castle  in  tears  when  they 
found  that  their  great  and  good  friend  was  suffering  intensely. 

The  agony  of  the  sick-room,  prolonged  through  many  weeks,  was 
shared  by  the  heart  of  England.  Mr.  Gladstone  himself  complained  not. 
He  said  he  had  enjoyed  so  many  thousand  hours  without  pain  that  he 
was  willing  to  accept  this  suffering  from  the  hands  of  Providence.  With 
all  the  depth  of  his  religious  emotion,  and  with  the  glow  of  his  earnest 
faith,  he  walked  bravely  on  into  the  valley  of  the  shadow,  and  it  was 
light  everywhere  about  him.  The  old  hymns  which  had  so  often  been 
sung  on  Sunday  nights  in  Hawarden  Castle,  were  sung  to  him  now.  Lit- 
tle Dorothy  Drew,  the  ever-loved  grandchild,  added  her  pathetic  wail 
that  her  grandfather  did  not  know  her  any  more.  Rev.  Stephen  Glad- 
stone, son  of  the  passing  statesman,  read  the  Litany  to  him  day  after  day, 
and  as  the  accents  of  his  voice,  as  he  read,  died  away  from  the  attention 
of  the  dying  man,  he  feebly  murmured,  "Amen!"  No  word  he  could 
have  pronounced  would  have  conveyed  the  full  meaning  and  character 
of  Gladstone's  career  more  truly.  His  whole  life  had  been  an  amen  to 
all  the  divine  impulses  and  hopes  embodied  in  the  cross  of  Jesus  Christ. 

The  next  morning  all  the  world  knew  that  William  Ewart  Gladstone 
had  terminated  his  career,  and  from  almost  every  nation  under  heaven 
came  words  of  condolence  and  prayer.  The  Prince  of  Wales  and  his 
Royal  Mother  joined  with  the  collier  and  cabdriver  in  the  common 
grief.  It  is  certain  that  the  world  felt  that  a  mighty  oak  had  fallen, 
and  the  forest  looked  strange  without  this  colossal  central  figure. 

It  was  the  plain  intention  of  Mr.  Gladstone  that  his  body  should  be 
buried  in  Hawarden  churchyard,  where  the  body  of  his  wife  might  also 
lie.  From  the  time  when  Sir  Stephen  Glynne  placed  his  daughter's 
hand  in  that  of  Gladstone,  up  to  the  moment  of  the  latter's  passing  away 
from  earth,  when  she  sat  kissing  the  hand  which  had  never  been  lifted 
in  an  unworthy  cause,  he  had  hoped,  and  she  had  hoped  that  no  event 


CONCLUSION.  379 

would  ever  separate  them,  not  even  death  itself.  But  England  thought 
that  Westminster  Abbey  should  be  honored  with  the  remains  of  Eng- 
land's greatest  Commoner,  and,  after  preparation  had  been  made  by 
which  the  body  of  Mrs.  Gladstone  might  in  time  rest  beside  that  of 
her  husband,  it  was  announced  that  the  interment  would  be  in  West- 
minster Abbey. 

As  the  day  of  the  funeral  approached,  London  was  most  desirous  of 
paying  every  tribute  to  the  departed  statesman.  The  Queen  requested 
that  all  public  celebrations  of  her  seventy-ninth  birthday  be  omitted, 
and  there  were  no  public  demonstrations  on  the  event,  for  the  body  of 
the  great  man  lay  in  state,  and  invitations  to  Cabinet  dinners  and  recep- 
tions were  recalled. 

Mr.  Gladstone  died  at  five  o'clock  on  Thursday  morning,  May  iQth, 
and  on  the  next  Tuesday,  the  body  lay  in  the  library  at  Hawarden  Castle 
as  beautiful  and  stately  in  death  as  in  life. 

"Dead  he  lay  among  his  books. 
The  peace  of  God  was  in  his  looks." 

On  the  white  silk  couch  the  great  statesman  appeared  sleeping,  as  if 
he  were  taking  a  rest  before  addressing  a  great  audience  upon  some  aca- 
demic occasion.  There  lay  the  body  in  evening  dress,  and  over  him  hung 
the  crimson  silk  robes  of  a  doctor  of  civil  law.  By  his  side  was  the  Ox- 
ford cap.  The  whole  scene  seemed  to  indicate  that  at  any  moment  the 
man  who  was  resting  there  on  his  side,  would  move  the  loosely  inter- 
locked fingers  lying  upon  his  bosom,  then  he  would  rise,  and,  with  that 
youth  which  death  had  brought  back  to  the  expressive  and  noble  face, 
he  would  again  thrill  the  audience  waiting  yonder  for  his  words  of  in- 
spiration and  wisdom. 

Meantime  the  House  of  Commons,  on  May  19,  was  crowded  in  every 
part,  and  Mr.  A.  J.  Balfour,  the  first  Lord  of  the  Treasury  and  leader  in 
the  House  of  Commons,  who  had  come  to  the  House  seriously  suffer- 
ing from  impaired  health,  arose,  giving  evidence  in  every  attitude  and 
in  every  tone  of  his  voice,  that  he  shared  the  public  grief.  The  heads  of 
all  present  were  uncovered  and  Mr.  Balfour  proposed  the  address  to 
the  Queen. 


380  GLADSTONE:    A   BIOGRAPHICAL  STUDY. 

Sir  William  Vernon  Harcourt,  on  the  part  of  the  Liberals,  offered 
but  a  word,  but  it  was  sincere  and  sympathetic,  and  the  House  ad- 
journed. 

The  next  day  the  Parliament  of  England  forgot  whether  Gladstone 
had  been  counted  a  Conservative  or  a  Liberal.  This  unparalleled  career 
shone  so  radiantly  before  those  who  had  been  his  antagonists  or  his  allies 
that  rarely,  if  ever,  did  friend  and  foe  unite  so  heartily  in  generous  words 
of  appreciation,  as  upon  this  occasion.  Lord  Salisbury,  perhaps  the 
ablest  man  whom  Gladstone  ever  met  in  debate,  a  man  who  perfectly 
shared  Gladstone's  passion  for  scholarship  and  his  enthusiastic  devotion 
to  the  Church,  pointed  to  Gladstone's  career  as  that  of  a  great  Christian 
statesman.  Mr.  Arthur  Balfour,  who  rose  above  the  weakness  of  body 
from  which  he  was  evidently  suffering,  uttered  a  most  just  and  eloquent 
eulogy,  while  John  Dillon,  carrying  in  his  trembling  voice  the  tears  of 
Ireland,  gave  Ireland's  best  and  truest  friend  cordial  words  of  praise 
that  will  always  be  repeated;  and  Sir  William  Vernon  Harcourt,  who 
had  labored  with  Gladstone,  for  the  most  part,  in  perfect  harmony, 
through  the  long  trials  of  Liberalism  in  the  last  quarter  of  a  century,  en- 
shrined the  mighty  dead  in  words  as  white  and  beautiful  as  was  the  life 
of  his  departed  friend.  Mr.  Joseph  Chamberlain  also  honored  himself 
in  offering  memorable  words  of  discriminating  praise. 

The  mortal  part  of  the  generous  neighbor  and  kind  friend,  followed 
by  the  family,  was  borne  by  loving  villagers  and  lifelong  servants  past 
the  nooks  of  Hawarden  Park  most  often  visited  by  the  laborious  states- 
man, and,  having  been  placed  in  the  village  church,  it  received  tender- 
est  honor  from  the  vast  crowd  of  friends  assembled  there. 

Every  effort  was  made  to  avoid  the  gathering  of  crowds  upon  the 
streets  of  London,  and  on  Thursday  morning  at  two  o'clock  the  cata- 
falque was  placed  in  Westminster  Hall.  Canon  Wilberforce  conducted 
an  appropriate  service.  At  each  corner  of  the  catafalque  candles  were 
lighted,  and,  in  recognition  that  a  chivalric  crusader  of  Jesus  Christ 
had  come  and  passed  that  way,  a  large  Armenian  cross  shone  at  the 
head.  Daylight  revealed  thousands  waiting  in  the  street,  anxious  to 
view  the  remains.  Dukes  and  peers  jostled  against  costermongers  and 
street  cleaners;  duchesses  and  wives  of  cabinet  ministers  vied  with  sew- 


CONCLUSION.  381 

ing  women  and  shop  girls  to  pay  honor  to  a  man  of  universal  interests. 
Two  thousand  policemen  were  guiding  the  throng  at  three  o'clock 
Thursday  afternoon  and  seventy-five  thousand  people  had  then  passed 
the  coffin.  Not  alone  was  Sir  William  Vernon  Harcourt  unable  to 
control  his  emotions  as  the  calm  face  was  seen  and  a  celestial  light 
radiated  from  the  loved  features.  Hundreds  were  thrilled,  as  once  by 
their  music  so  now  by  the  silence  of  those  finely  molded  lips.  He  had 
found  Life  in  death. 

Without  military  pomp  and  pageantry,  this  least  spectacular  cere- 
monial in  England's  history  went  on.  It  was  the  funeral  of  the  truest 
Commoner.  Not  so  many  human  beings  had  crowded  into  the  space 
about  the  Hall,  even  on  the  occasion  of  the  Queen's  Diamond  Jubilee. 
As  Gladstone's  whispered  request  had  made  it,  it  was  "very  simple;"  as 
his  character  and  career  had  made  it  also,  it  was  very  sublime.  The 
Prince  of  Wales  and  the  Duke  of  York  were  among  the  pall-bearers, 
but  a  quarter  of  a  million  of  people  thronged  about  to  carry  Gladstone 
in  their  hearts  forever.  Here  and  there  flamed  a  bit  of  color  or  gleamed 
a  strip  of  gold,  but  more  impressive  than  heralds,  bishops,  princes,  privy 
councilors,  laced  diplomats  and  the  richly  attired  Speaker  of  the  House 
of  Commons  bearing  the  mace  on  his  shoulder,  was  the  hushed  and 
mournful  throng  who  beheld  the  family,  the  Hawarden  villagers  and 
servants  following  the  oaken  coffin  into  the  Valhalla  of  England.  The 
great  Abbey  quivered  with  the  grandly  solemn  music.  Handel  and 
Schubert,  and  Beethoven,  Toplady,  Watts,  Newman  and  David  the 
psalmist,  had  loaned  their  genius  to  the  hour,  and  Canning  and  Pitt, 
Browning  and  Tennyson  gave  Gladstone  august  companionship.  The 
future  King  of  England  extended  his  hand  in-  sympathy  to  the  widow 
who  looked  long  and  tenderly  into  the  grave  and  then  glanced  upward 
to  heaven.  The  dirge  trembled  into  a  whisper  and  the  ceremony  was 
done. 

As  the  latest  echo  of  his  favorite  hymn,  "Praise  to  the  Holiest," 
resounding  yet  from  the  great  choir  of  one  hundred  voices,  was  lost 
in  the  sorrowful  tones  of  "The  Dead  March  in  Saul,"  which  wept  them- 
selves away  amidst  the  arches  of  the  majestic  Abbey,  old  and  life-long 
friends  lingered,  unwilling  to  quit  the  solemn  scene.  Around  them 


382  GLADSTONE:    A   BIOGRAPHICAL  STUDY. 

were  memorials  of  those  whom  they,  with  Gladstone,  had  honored  in 
life,  and  with  these  they  were  prone  to  remain.  Upon  their  faces  "the 
light  that  never  was  on  sea  or  land"  played  fitfully  through  tears.  Was 
Gladstone  understood?  They,  at  least,  understood  him,  for  to  them, 
it  was  more  clear  than  ever  that  he  came  into  this  world  of  ours,  not  the 
rondured  and  polished  pearl  his  earlier  friends  exhibited  with  acclaim, 
but  rather  entered  he,  at  birth,  an  acorn  of  true  Anglo-Saxon  genesis, 
a  veritable  forest-monarch  as  yet  enfolded  and  soon  to  unfold,  a  great 
tree  whose  multiform  development  was  destined  to  have  nothing  of 
the  hard  and  hopeless  consistency  of  even  the  brightest  of  lifeless  jewels, 
but  rather  that  deeper  and  more  vital  consistency  with  its  past  which 
a  wide-limbed  and  constantly  growing  king  of  the  woods  has  with  the 
brown  nut  rotting  at  the  root  of  the  many-branched  oak.  None  who 
first  entered  into  the  secret  of  his  genius  had  expected  otherwise.  An 
acorn,  indeed,  was  this,  of  God's  own  creation  and  planting.  To  attain 
himself,  as  feebly  foreseen,  there  must  needs  be  unwelcome  disturb- 
ances, tragic  breakings  of  the  bepraised  and  glossy  shell  by  unpleasant 
urgings  of  something  within,  spring-time  pangs  and  innumerable  out- 
reachings. 

If  Sir  John  Gladstone's  son,  William  Ewart,  had  been  only  a  per- 
fectly sphered  ivory  or  beryl  ball  of  conservatism,  brilliant  and  suffi- 
ciently pure,  the  gift  of  heaven  might  have  been  kept  securely  and  com- 
prehensively enough  in  a  golden  box,  but  no  hope  would  have  gone  out 
in  any  proposed  planting  of  such  an  unresponsive  thing  in  our  world's 
rich  soil.  But  unfortunately  for  Toryism,  and  fortunately  for  Liberal- 
ism, he  was  a  vital  seed,  not  a  cold  gem,  and,  granted  sun  and  rainfall, 
he  could  not  and  he  did  not  remain  ever  an  understandable,  manageable, 
erubescent  and  dead  item  of  human  life's  equation,  but  he  was,  instead, 
an  ever  wondrous,  and  perhaps  to  the  dull-eyed,  a  too  eager  and  elusive 
reality  into  whose  career  the  life  and  hope  of  this  planet  ran  for  succor, 
and  from  whose  being  and  action  there  went  forth  a  revealment  of  God 
in  the  form  of  humanity.  Three  score  and  ten  years  had  passed  since 
Tennyson  and  he  talked  of  the  future  they  dreamed  for  Arthur  Henry 
Hallam.  Fifty  years  ago,  death  silenced  Hallam  and  each  of  those  years 


CONCLUSION.  383 

had  given  Gladstone  an  opportunity  to  embody  in  Himself  the  prophecy 
made  of  the  other : 

"A  life  with  civic  action  warm, 
A  soul  on  highest  mission  sent, 
A  potent  voice  of  Parliament, 
A  pillar  steadfast  in  the  storm." 

These  words  of  Tennyson  came  to  many  a  heart  on  that  May  day 
when  the  silent  crowd  vanished  from  the  Abbey.  Yonder,  by  the  side 
of  Robert  Browning  and  in  front  of  the  Chaucer  monument  lay  the  poet 
who  wrote  the  prefatory  sonnet  for  Gladstone's  heart-searching  appeal 
for  Montenegro;  now  and  hither  had  been  borne  the  remains  of  the 
statesman  to  be  buried  next  to  the  dust  of  William  Pitt  and  close  to  the 
bust  of  Lord  Be'aconsfield,  which  would  still  be  the  finest  memorial 
of  Gladstone's  most  brilliant  rival,  had  it  not  been  that  Gladstone  him- 
self made  by  his  speech  on  the  death  of  Beaconsfield,  as  Sir  Stafford 
Northcote  said :  "A  more  enduring  monument  than  could  be  carved  out 
of  stone." 

It  was  not  in  keeping  with  the  hour  to  compare  the  values  of  the 
public  services  of  poet  and  statesman.  Gladstone  had  already  awarded 
the  palm  to  Tennyson  in  lustrous  and  stately  phrase,  for  he  was  suffi- 
ciently poetic  to  perceive  that  the  poet  is  the  true  prophet  of  civilization. 
On  the  other  hand,  Tennyson  himself  spoke  of  Gladstone  as  the  loftiest 
of  English  statesmen.  The  very  method  which  Gladstone  had  often 
adopted  and  for  the  adoption  of  which  he  was  most  often  and  bitterly 
reproached — that  of  the  Steersman,  who  seeking  to  reach  a  given  point 
and  finding  two  channels  possible,  one  with  a  cataract  ahead,  the  other 
more  circuitous  but  with  no  fatal  difficulty,  chooses  the  bend  as  his 
course — this,  his  friend,  the  singer  urged  upon  him,  for  the  reason  that 
Tennyson  knew  that  a  Gladstone,  by  endowment  of  genius,  is  account- 
able, not  for  himself  alone,  but  also  and  more  especially  for  himself  as 
a  leader  and  commander  of  men.  Men  said  he  yielded  enough  to  his 
theory  of  eloquence  and  the  orator.  He  said :  "It  is  an  influence  prin- 
cipally received  from  his  audience  (so  to  speak)  in  vapour,  which  he 
pours  back  upon  them  in  a  flood.  The  sympathy  and  concurrence  of 
his  time,  is,  with  his  own  mind,  joint  parent  of  his  work.  He  cannot 


384  GLADSTONE:    A   BIOGRAPHICAL  STUDY. 

follow  nor  frame  ideals;  his  choice  is  to  be  what  his  age  will  have  him, 
what  it  requires  in  order  to  be  moved  by  him  or  else  not  to  be  at  all." 
But  this  must  be  balanced  by  the  equally  strong  opinion  of  others  that 
he  was  too  attached  to  lofty  ideals,  and  fought  too  far  in  front  of  his 
army.  Bright  called  him  a  sunflower  ever  turning  to  the  sun;  but  he 
was  more,  for  he  wooed  all  else  sunward. 

The  question  of  questions  to  be  asked  concerning  a  man  like  Glad- 
stone is  not :  Did  he  succeed  in  being  popular?  Did  he  reach  the  highest 
seat  of  power?  Was  he  always  of  the  opinion  of  his  ancestors  or  of  him- 
self on  some  yesterday?  It  is  this  rather,  granted  that  he  had  much 
to  renounce  and  to  forget  and  that  therefore,  he  must  have  had  to 
move  out  of  one  set  of  opinions  and  methods  and  to  enter  into  another, 
did  he  grow,  with  that  healthfulness  of  soul  and  that  soundness  of  con- 
science, which,  always,  in  the  process  of  his  development,  kept  him  true 
to  his  own  personality  and  to  the  integrity  of  the  laws  of  human  thought 
by  which  other  equally  true  minds  necessarily  came  into  alliance  with 
him?  It  is  competent,  in  short,  to  ask  how  far  did  his  transforming 
intelligence  normally  transform  the  nation  he  most  influenced,  toward 
permanent  grandeur  and  good  fame?  The  answers  to  these  questions, 
it  is  believed,  will  be  increasingly  favorable  to  the  name  and  to  the  honor 
of  Gladstone.  From  first  to  last,  by  force  of  a  lively  intelligence,  pre- 
destined to  love  and  to  seek  increasing  light  and  hope,  he  was  in  process 
of  evolution.  So  also,  but  less  swiftly,  was  England. 

His  inconsistencies  are  proof  of  the  truth  of  Emerson's  words: 
"Consistency  is  the  hobgoblin  of  little  minds."  Times  there  were 
when  any  partial  view  could  only  say,  as  he  was  contemplated : 

"Things  are  in  process  still;  the  segment  ends  are  these 

Within  the  plane  upturned  to-day.    The  perfect  circles  round  but  slow." 

The  verdict  of  all  times,  however,  will  be  returned  as  the  world,  ever 
advancing  toward  the  goal  he  dreamed  of,  perceives  the  whole  range 
and  the  entire  import  of  the  influences  he  helped  to  create,  to  guard 
and  to  guide,  and  then  with  the  names  of  Alfred  and  Hampden,  Will- 
iam the  Silent  and  Lincoln,  will  be  found  written  the  resplendent  name 
of  William  Ewart  Gladstone. 


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